JOHN 
EOOK); 


John  Smith's 
Bookkeeping 


JOHN  SMITH'S 
BOOKKEEPING 

By  R.  T.  PORTE 

'/ 

Author  of 

The  Practical  Cost  System  for  Printing  Offices 

How  to  Figure  Costs  in  a  Printing  Office 

The  Printers  of  Chiapolis 

Compiler  of 
The  Franklin  Printing  Price  List 


Published    by 
PORTE   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 


SALT  LAKE  CITY 
UTAH 


Copyright  1922 
By  R.  T.  PORTE 

SALT    LAKE    CITY 
UTAH 


Reprinted  by  permission  frcm 
The  Inland  Printer 


First  Edition 
May  1,  1922 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Introduction    7 

Taking  an   Accounting   9 

Advertisements    „ 19 

Commercial  Printing 37 

Income  , 55 

Cash 69 

Credit    83 

Merchandise     „ 97 

Accounts   109 

Expenses    121 

Losses    133 

Profits 145 

Prosperity   157 

Announcement  ....169 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Diagram   of   Plant   16 

Advertising  Document  File  24 

Advertising  Jacket — Fig.  1  26 

Advertising  Jacket — Fig.  2 28 

Advertising  Jacket — Fig.  3  30 

Advertising  Jacket— Fig.  4  32 

Advertising  Jacket — Fig.  5  34 

Job  Ticket  Envelope— Fig.  1  42 

Job  Ticket  Envelope — Fig.  2  44 

Job  Ticket  Envelope — Fig.  3  46 

Job  Ticket  Envelope— Fig.  4  48 

Job  Ticket  Envelope— Fig.  5  50 

Job  Register  52 

Combination  Cash  Journal — Fig.  1  62 

Combination  Cash  Journal — Fig.  2  64 

Combination  Cash  Journal — Fig.  3  77 

Combination  Cash  Journal — Fig.  4  78 

Combination  Cash  Journal — Fig.  5  94 

Subscription    Card    Ill 

Ledger    Sheets    112 


INTRODUCTION 

FOR  the  past  year  or  two,  numerous  requests  have 
come  to  the  editor  of  The  Inland  Printer  and  to 
the  writer  for  a  simple  method  of  keeping  books  for 
the  country  publishers  and  the  small  job-printer.  An 
awakening  has  taken  place  in  the  printing  industry, 
due  to  agitation  along  cost-finding  and  price-making 
lines,  and  showings  made  by  surveys,  all  of  which, 
whether  correct  or  not,  has  had  a  tendency  to  make 
the  printer  sit  up  and  take  notice,  and  to  feel  that 
perhaps  after  all  something  was  the  matter  with  the 
printing  business. 

Nearly  all  printers  and  publishers  have  some 
method  of  keeping  track  of  their  accounts,  but  few, 
if  any,  can  tell  at  the  end  of  the  month,  and  be  able 
to  prove  their  figures,  whether  they  have  made  any 
money. 

Now,  the  writer  is  not  an  "accountant,"  nor  does 
he  claim  to  be  a  bookkeeper — in  fact,  like  all  good 
printers,  he  hates  bookkeeping.  But  he  realizes  that 
some  record  must  be  kept  which  will  show  a  printer 
"where  he  is  at." 

After  investigating  some  hundreds  of  systems,  of 
very  simple  and  very  complex  natures,  he  has  chosen 
as  one  example,  a  printer  whom  he  shall  call  John 
Smith,  who  took  over  an  old  plant  and  had  his  friend 
the  cashier  of  the  bank  help  him  put  it  on  a  paying 
basis. 


8  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

This  story  of  John  Smith  is  mostly  true,  although 
it  was  not  entirely  the  bookkeeping  system  that  made 
him  and  his  partner  independent,  as  he  in  time  put 
in  a  cost  system,  and  the  general  systematizing  that 
followed  as  a  result  of  the  installation  of  the  cost 
system  improved  conditions  so  that  C.  0.  D.'s,  pay- 
rolls, and  other  things  troubled  him  no  more. 

Let  us,  without  further  comment,  start  in  at  the 
beginning,  and  see  just  how  John  Smith  did  things. 

R.  T.  PORTE 

Salt  Lake  City,  May,  1922 


Taking  an 
Accounting 


John  Smith's  Bookkeeping 


R.  T.  PORTE 


TAKING  AN  ACCOUNTING 

THE  Bladon  Banner  was,  and  still  is,  a  typical 
country  newspaper,  like  unto  some  15,000  pub- 
lished in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Some  others 
were  better  papers,  and  many  were  poorer  papers,  but 
it  had  struggled  along  for  ten  years  under  the  guiding 
hand  of  Jefferson  Bell,  a  scholar  and  editor.  For  nine 
of  those  years,  John  Smith  was  the  mainstay  of  the 
mechanical  force.  At  times  some  boy  of  the  village 
assayed  the  "devil"  part  of  the  "force,"  but  on  not 
getting  his  pay  promptly  when  due  he  usually  quit 
and  went  to  work  at  something  more  profitable,  and 
where  returns  were  more  sure. 

Bell  could  write  a  good  editorial,  a  spirited  and 
hot  attack  upon  his  contemporary  in  the  next  town 
who  sometimes  came  over  and  solicited  job-work  in 
Bladon,  and  thus  hurt  the  little  income  of  the  Banner. 

11 


:\.2*    • :  ••:«'*7f>HN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

He  could  write  a  good  three-line  "local,"  and  in  the 
issue  immediately  following  the  Fourth  of  July  spread 
himself  in  a  two-column  story  of  the  "celebration." 

The  paper  consisted  of  some  five  columns  of  local 
and  editorial  news,  two  columns  of  patent-medicine 
reading  notices,  which  the  various  "devils"  practiced 
upon  in  learning  to  set  type,  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
columns  of  display  advertisements,  and  the  balance 
was  plate  matter.  Four  of  the  "inside"  pages  con- 
sisted of  "patent  in — "  excuse  me,  I  mean  "ready 
prints"  or  "auxiliary  service,"  giving  it  the  new  name. 

No  two  persons  could  be  more  unlike  than  Jeffer- 
son Bell  and  John  Smith.  Bell,  the  owner,  should 
have  been  the  business  man,  but  he  was  far  from  that. 
We  need  make  but  one  mention  of  his  business  meth- 
ods to  show  just  what  kind  of  business  man  he  was. 
A  subscriber  paid  him  a  dollar  on  account  on  the 
street,  and  Bell  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  promptly  for- 
got all  about  it.  The  paper  continued  to  go  to  the 
subscriber,  but  the  label  still  bore  the  same  old  date. 

To  go  into  a  long  account  of  the  many  business 
crimes  committed  by  Bell  would  tire  anyone,  as  it 
was  the  old,  old  story  of  lack  of  method  and  a  hit* 
and-miss  way  of  doing  things.  The  "insides"  came 
C.  0.  D.,  and  usually  it  meant  a  hard  scramble  to  pay 
the  $5.64  weekly.  Paper  came  the  same  way,  and  pay- 
day often  went  by  without  John  Smith  receiving  his 
money. 

John  was  young,  not  married,  had  a  room  in  back 
of  the  shop,  and  made  little  if  any  complaint.  He  had 
something  else,  however,  and  that  was  a  little  black 


TAKING  AN  ACCOUNTING  15 

book,  and  each  Saturday  he  spent  an  hour  or  so  of 
careful  studying  and  figuring. 

It  was  very  common  talk  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  about  the  friendship  of  the  cashier  of 
the  bank  and  John  Smith,  the  "Printer"  at  the  Banner 
office. 

The  life  of  a  country  newspaper  and  its  editor  is 
much  like  that  of  the  proverbial  cat  and  its  nine  lives, 
but  the  end  is  inevitable,  and  when  the  first  episode 
of  the  apparent  finish  of  the  Banner  occurred  it  almost 
overwhelmed  Jefferson  Bell.  In  an  evil  moment  Bell 
had  borrowed  some  money  from  the  bank.  It  kept 
him  busy  for  eight  years  paying  the  interest.  Then 
three  years  after  that,  being  in  hard  straits  and  with 
prospects  of  losing  his  business  looming  up,  he  lis- 
tened to  the  siren  talk  of  a  "contest  manager'5  and  put 
on  a  contest.  The  results  were  a  thousand  dollars  in 
the  pocket  of  Bell,  another  thousand  in  the  pocket  of 
the  contest  manager,  and  a  thousand  paid-in-advance 
subscribers,  some  for  ten  years.  To  settle  for  the 
"prizes"  several  advertising  contracts  were  given  for 
a  year  or  two  without  pay.  Some  of  the  bills  and 
accounts  were  cancelled. 

All  went  merry  for  a  time,  but  as  year  passed  year,, 
the  pinch  began  to  be  felt  again.  No  money  was  re- 
ceived in  payment  for  many  advertisements;  receipts 
for  subscription  accounts  were  few,  as  most  had  paid 
up  and  those  who  did  not  pay  showed  subscription 
receipts  for  moneys  the  contest  manager  had  failed  to» 
mention. 

John  Smith  still  set  the  type,  smiled,  and  said  little, 
but  kept  the  paper  alive.  He  did  job-work,  made  most 


14  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

of  the  prices,  which  the  proprietor  sometimes  cut  as 
"being  too  high,"  saying  the  people  would  not  stand 
for  it. 

Political  years  helped  out  at  times,  but  expenses 
kept  creeping  up,  and  the  interest  had  to  be  paid. 

One  morning  as  Bell  passed  the  bank,  the  president 
called  him  in,  and  mentioned  that  the  mortgage  and 
other  money  was  due.  Then  followed  a  long  conversa- 
tion, and  Bell  went  out  much  worried. 

He  sat  in  his  office  chair  a  much  depressed  man, 
and  the  world  looked  blue  to  him.  Presently  he  looked 
up,  and  in  front  of  him  stood  his  printer. 

"Mr.  Bell,"  John  began,  "I  think  I  know  what  is 
the  matter." 

"Oh,  you  do/'  Bell  answered,  with  sarcasm,  "and 
I  suppose  you,  too,  want  some  money." 

"Well,"  John  answered,  "one  never  refuses  what 
is  justly  due  him,  but  if  you  do  not  have  what  is  due 
me,  perhaps  we  can  come  to  some  understanding." 

"All  I  know,"  Bell  said,  "is  that  the  bank  wants 
its  money,  I  owe  you  God  knows  how  much,  and  I 
haven't  a  cent." 

Then  John  began  to  talk,  and  before  he  had  gone 
very  far,  Bell  sat  up  straight  in  his  chair  and  stared 
with  amazement,  though  hardly  understanding  just 
what  John  was  saying. 

John  produced  his  book,  and  quoted  figures.  He 
had  worked  so  many  weeks,  and  had  received  so  much 
money,  all  set  down  in  order,  and  the  balance  due  him 
was  a  very  considerable  sum.  Then  he  produced  an- 
other book  with  the  bank's  name  on  it,  and  the  differ- 


TAKING  AN  ACCOUNTING  15 

ence  between  the  two  figures — in  fact  there  was  only 
one  row  of  figures — quite  astonished  Bell. 

Another  page  of  the  book  was  shown  with  figures 
something  like  this: 

Office  furniture  $    251.65 

Composing  room   1,246.32 

Job  presses 941.84 

Cylinder  1,502.85 

Bindery 651.84 


Total  $4,594.50 

Bell  gazed  at  the  figures  and  asked  some  questions, 
and  then  John  presented  other  figures. 

"Well,"  said  Bell,  after  looking  at  all  the  figures, 
"it  looks  as  though  you  know  more  about  this  business 
than  I  do.  What  is  the  answer?" 

"Mr.  Bell,"  John  explained,  "you  are  a  good  edi- 
tor, but  if  I  may  say  so,  you  are  a  poor  business  man. 
I  guess  that  my  talent  runs  to  figures.  I  liked  to  do 
sums  and  to  figure  things  out  when  I  went  to  school. 
You  are  not  that  kind.  This  business  can  be  put  on 
its  feet  and  made  to  pay,  but  not  if  run  the  way  it  has 
been.  You  owe  the  bank  and  me  over  $2,500.  You 
can't  pay.  The  plant  is  worth  about  $4,500.  Let's 
call  the  good  will  $500.  You  owe  no  one,  because — • 
well,  we  will  let  that  matter  rest.  Very  few  owe  you. 
You  may  have  some  personal  accounts,  but  that  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Banner. 

"Here  is  what  I  propose  to  do.  I  have  enough 
money  to  pay  the  bank.  You  owe  me  enough  to  make 


DIAGRAM  OF  PLANT 


TAKING  AN  ACCOUNTING  17 

one-half  of  the  $5,000.  Suppose  we  go  over  to  Law- 
yer Jenkins  and  have  him  draw  up  partnership  papers, 
each  to  have  one-half,  you  to  be  the  editor,  and  I  will 
be  the  business  manager.  I  will  have  charge  of  the 
books,  make  prices,  and  run  the  business  in  general. 
Each  to  be  put  on  a  salary  basis,  and  each  attend  to 
his  own  duties.  What  do  you  say?" 

"John,  I  want  to  say  you  are  the  biggest  surprise 
in  the  world,"  Bell  gasped.  "I'll  think  it  over." 

The  result  was  an  announcement  in  the  paper  of 
the  Banner  taking  in  a  new  man  as  a  partner,  one  long 
trusted  as  an  associate,  and  many  other  things.  It  was 
almost  the  supreme  effort  of  Bell,  the  editor,  and  to- 
day, riding  in  his  flivver,  going  over  the  country  roads 
to  visit  some  of  his  friends  and  subscribers,  he  thinks 
it  was  the  best  editorial  and  best  move  he  ever  made. 

But  with  the  signing  of  the  papers  began  the  busiest 
time  in  the  life  of  John  Smith,  printer,  and  now  part 
owner  of  the  newspaper  and  plant  he  had  grown  to 
love.  For  years  he  had  itched  to  make  a  lot  of 
changes,  especially  in  the  plant,  so  in  a  short  time 
he  urged  Bell  to  attend  a  convention  in  the  county 
seat,  and  also  to  take  a  vacation  for  a  few  weeks. 

When  Bell  returned  and  entered  the  printing-office, 
he  stopped  short,  because  nothing  looked  familiar.  His 
desk  was  not  in  its  favorite  place;  a  young  girl  was 
at  another  desk  that  had  always  held  the  "exchanges," 
and  was  busily  at  work  at  some  writing;  he  found  a 
partition  cutting  off  part  of  the  shop,  and  the  back 
office  completely  changed.  Had  Bell  been  able  to 
view  the  entire  shop,  it  would  have  looked  to  him  like 
the  picture  printed.  The  old  room  that  John  had  used 


18  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

for  sleeping  quarters  was  gone,  and  all  the  machinery 
moved  around  except  the  cylinder  press,  which  always 
stood  in  the  back  of  the  room. 

"For  the  love  of  heaven,"  Bell  finally  spurted  out, 
"has  there  been  an  earthquake?" 

John  came  forward,  smiling,  and  explained. 

"This  is  something  I  have  had  in  mind  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  now  that  I  am  part  owner  and  can 
run  the  plant  I  took  the  opportunity  while  you  were 
away  to  make  the  changes,  and  also  to  hire  Mamie, 
here,  to  help  set  type,  feed  the  presses  and  do  some 
work  in  the  bindery,  as  well  as  keep  books  as  we  may 
need." 

"That  sounds  pretty  good,"  Bell  said  with  a  twin- 
kle in  his  eye,  "but  it  seems  to  me  that  Miss  Mamie 
here  is  going  to  be  some  busy  girl.  Where  do  I  go 
in  this  place?" 

"Take  your  old  desk,  even  though  it  has  been 
moved,"  John  answered,  smiling,  "and  leave  the  other 
two  to  Mamie  and  me,  as  we  will  probably  need  them 
at  times  when  not  otherwise  employed. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  almost  forgot,  I  have  started  a  book- 
keeping system,  and  what  Mamie  is  writing  up  is  an 
order  for  some  job-printing,  and  I  want  you  to  see 
what  it  is." 

"Not  today,  young  man.  This  change  has  been 
enough  for  me,  I  can't  stand  much  more.  I  am  going 
home  to  pray  that  the  shop  will  still  be  here  in  the 
morning.  Give  me  a  copy  of  last  week's  issue  to  see 
what  you  did  to  that,  and  give  me  a  few  of  the  ex- 
changes to  read  and  rest  my  fevered  brain,  and  I  will 
bid  you  good-day." 


Advertisements 


II 

ADVERTISEMENTS 

IN  MOST  country  newspaper  offices,  and  also  the 
smaller  job  printing  establishments,  the  daily  mail 
is  not  considered  of  much  importance.  It  is  likely  to 
lie  on  the  office  desk  for  days  at  a  time,  unopened 
and  unread.  Particularly  is  this  true  of  such  letters 
that  look  like  "bills"  or  requests  to  pay.  Also,  an- 
swering letters  is  something  almost  unheard  of.  Occa- 
sionally a  letter  is  answered,  only  after  much  effort  and 
trouble,  or  when  there  is  an  occasion  to  make  a  big  kick 
over  a  delayed  shipment  of  ready-prints  or  paper  that 
should  have  come  the  day  before  yesterday,  when  it  was 
really  ordered  on  that  day.  When  the  publisher  has  a 
chance  to  kick,  he  takes  glory  in  it,  and  passes  on  to  the 
other  fellow  all  that  is  in  him,  just  to  keep  even.  Ex- 
changes lie  unopened  and  accumulate  until  the  room  is 
nearly  filled,  then  they  disappear — how,  is  sometimes  a 
mystery,  although  a  chilly  morning  and  a  big  stove  in 
the  corner  might  be  the  answer. 

Jefferson  Bell  never  feared  "dunners."  His  ac- 
counts with  the  supply  and  paper  houses  bothered  him 
not  at  all — everything  came  C.  0.  D.  His  only  trou- 
bles were  with  the  express  and  freight  companies  and 
with  the  postoffice.  The  C.  0.  D.'s  taken  care  of,  the 

21 


22  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

world  looked  bright  and  clear.  To  him,  the  daily 
perusal  of  his  mail  was  almost  an  act  of  devotion. 
He  had  a  deadly  hate  of  "free  dope"  and  could  spot 
the  junk  at  a  glance,  and  took  a  fiendish  delight  in 
throwing  it  with  all  his  might  into  the  waste-paper 
basket.  It  seemed  to  tickle  his  vanity  to  have  "big 
interests"  ask  him  to  print  their  stuff,  and  by  throw- 
ing it  into  the  waste  basket  he  felt  that  he  had  his 
revenge  for  all  the  lack  of  success  on  his  part.  They 
weren't  going  to  get  anything  from  him,  not  by  a  long 
shot,  unless  they  paid  for  it.  He  read  regularly  the 
"Chamber  of  Horrors,"  and  gloated  over  the  fact  that 
none  of  them  caught  him.  He  was  much  too  wise  for 
them.  Once  in  a  while  he  would  take  a  particularly 
foxy  one  over  to  John  Smith,  and  tell  him  all  about 
it  and  how  it  failed  to  catch  him. 

Bell  liked  to  take  each  exchange  and  look  it  over 
carefully,  then  take  a  copy  of  the  daily  paper  pub- 
lished in  the  large  city  near  him,  paid  for  by  a  free 
ad  run  once  in  a  while  as  a  courtesy,  and  thus  for 
three  or  four  hours  of  the  day  he  spent  his  time,  al- 
most deaf  to  the  events  going  around  him.  He  knew 
almost  every  editor  personally,  and  their  papers  seemed 
to  him  like  a  visit  from  a  brother  editor.  A  few  he 
did  not  like,  and  a  frown  came  to  his  face  when  he 
picked  up  their  "sheets"  and  eagerly  looked  them  over 
to  see  if  they  "contained  anything."  The  others  he 
looked  over  with  loving  care. 

The  few  letters  he  opened  carefully  and  read,  and 
laid  them  aside — to  be  answered,  maybe,  in  the  future. 
Those  from  advertising  agents,  he  opened  eagerly,  as 
they  might  contain  a  request  for  rates  or  an  order  for 


ADVERTISEMENTS  23 

some  foreign  advertising.  This  was  the  class  of  ad- 
vertising he  liked  most.  It  meant  cash,  while  the  local 
advertising  was  mostly  of  the  "trade"  variety.  The  few 
legals  represented  cash,  and  sometimes  the  "powers 
that  be"  handed  out  some  county  or  state  legal  print- 
ing which  came  in  mighty  handy — especially  when  he 
thought  John  Smith  was  getting  to  the  point  when  he 
wanted  some  of  the  money  due  him. 

The  morning  after  his  return  from  the  short  vaca- 
tion was  a  bright  and  cheerful  one.  It  was  in  the  fall 
of  the  year,  with  just  a  snap  to  the  air  that  made  one 
walk  briskly,  and  feel  alive.  Therefore,  he  arrived 
at  the  office  in  good  spirits,  fully  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  shock  of  the  day  before. 

If  he  noticed  anything  unusual,  he  gave  no  sign, 
but  went  at  once  to  his  desk,  now  cleared  and  in  order, 
where  the  morning's  mail  awaited  him,  put  there  by 
John  Smith,  as  in  the  many  days  of  the  past  years. 
On  top  of  the  pile  was  a  letter  from  the  advertising 
agency  which  had  been  in  charge  of  the  advertising 
campaign  of  a  certain  patent  medicine  for  many  years, 
and  had  always  carried  an  advertisement  in  the  Ban- 
ner. Yes,  the  year  was  nearly  up,  and  about  time  for 
them  to  renew  the  contract,  and  this  must  be  the  re- 
newal. It  was  certainly  a  happy  moment,  as  he  could 
open  the  letter,  and  then  go  over  to  John  with  the  new 
contract,  and  present  it  to  his  partner  with  some  pride. 
At  least  here  is  where  he  had  shown  good  business 
management  by  retaining  this  contract  for  these  years 
— it  was  sure  money,  and  a  regular  feature.  Yes,  the 
contract  was  there,  and  he  read  it  through  as  of  habit, 
and  when  it  came  to  the  rate  per  inch  he  was  struck 


DOCUMENT  FILE   FOR  KEEPING   ADVERTISING   CONTRACTS 

IN    PROPER    ORDER    FOR    REFERENCE    AS 

ADVERTISEMENTS  ARE  INSERTED 


ADVERTISEMENTS  25 

with  amazement!  Could  it  be  possible?  It  must  be 
a  dream!  Noting  that  a  letter  accompanied  the  con- 
tiact,  he  looked  at  it,  as  though  it  might  have  some 
clue  to  the  mystery.  The  letter  read  as  follows: 

Dear  Sirs:  Your  letter  of  the  10th  received,  re- 
fusing to  make  a  contract  for  Pulana  Advertising  at  10 
cents  an  inch  and  suggesting  that  15  cents  an  inch  is 
nearer  right. 

You  are  probably  aware  that  we  have  had  a  rate 
of  4  cents  an  inch  from  you  for  many  years,  and  when 
you  refused  to  renew  at  this  rate  we  offered  you  10 
cents,  as  we  disliked  to  discontinue  business  relations 
with  you  after  all  these  years.  This  offer  you  have 
turned  down,  and  we  regret  it  very  much. 

However,  we  have  consulted  our  clients,  who  state 
that  the  returns  from  your  territory  have  been  very 
satisfactory,  and  that  inasmuch  as  their  advertisement 
has  appeared  in  the  Banner  for  years,  they  have  auth- 
orized us  to  offer  you  15  cents  for  the  coming  year  as 
per  your  new  rate. 

Inclosed  find  new  contract  for  your  signature,  with 
a  duplicate  for  your  records.  Copy  f.nd  plates  will 
be  forwarded  to  you  in  due  time,  that  the  advertising 
may  continue  uninterruptedly. 

Trusting  this  will  be  satisfactory,  we  beg  to  remain 
Yours  very  truly, 

MARIS  &  SON. 

If  Bell  had  been  surprised  when  Smith  offered  to 
help  him  over  his  financial  difficulties,  and  the  new 
partnership,  and  also  surprised  at  the  changed  ap- 


OATt  RECEIVED 


Is    /?// 


OBTAINED  THROUGH 


CLASSIFIED          ]  LEGAL 


INSTRUCTIONS 


ADVERTISING  JACKET— Fig.    1 


ADVERTISEMENTS  27 

pearance  of  the  shop  upon  his  return,  it  was  nothing 
compared  to  the  surprise  and  shock  he  received  upon 
reading  this  letter  and  the  contract.  A  raise  from  4 
to  15  cents  an  inch !  No  one  but  a  crazy  person  would 
have  thought  of  such  a  thing.  What  was  the  matter 
with  Smith,  anyway? 

"Smith,"  Bell  was  just  able  to  say,  "come  here  and 
look  at  this." 

"Oh,  h — ,"  said  Smith,  when  he  had  read  both  the 
letter  and  the  contract,  "we  will  have  to  run  those 
blooming  ads.  another  year." 

"Say,  what  is  the  matter  with  you?"  Bell  retorted, 
"Why  not  run  the  ads. ;  isn't  the  money  good,  especially 
at  15  cents  an  inch?" 

"That's  all  right  for  you,  as  they  helped  to  fill 
space  for  which  you  might  have  had  to  buy  plate,  or 
write  something,  but  I  sure  am  tired  of  changing  those 
ads.  every  week.  But,"  Smith  sighed  in  a  resigned 
manner,  "guess  we  will  have  to  do  it,  but  I  thought 
sure  they  would  turn  down  the  15  cent  rate.  Wish  I 
had  asked  20  cents  now." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,"  Bell  almost  yelled,  "that 
you  tried  to  get  rid  of  this  perfectly  good  advertising 
and  good  money?" 

"Well,  perhaps,  it  looks  funny,"  Smith  said,  keep- 
ing his  temper,  "but  those  patent  medicine  ads.  have 
almost  gotten  my  goat,  and  if  they  are  to  run  here- 
after in  this  paper  they  will  have  to  pay  for  it." 

"There  can't  be  much  kick  on  this  rate,"  Bell  said, 
cooly,  "and  if  this  business  is  to  prosper,  we  must 
have  cash  advertising,  you  know." 


DATE  RECEIVED 


ADVERTISEMENT  FOR 

C  "TV/rf-MX^ 

OBTAINED  THROUGH 
JO^fi^l        «*-     A»>wt/// 

DESCRIPTION 

'                    ^ 

DISPLAY 

READER      ~/  1  CLASSIRED          I  LEGAL 

INSTRUCTIONS 

^^^hL  JLJJ*™™™, 

/-     0       U             -ft-          <? 

ft*il.  i  rtJr  «,  A^JL. 

COMMENCE 
GYlmr.     £,          10  // 

STOP 

Y>i>w    /       ta/<a 

M. 

A 

PobiM 

Bk. 
Ck. 

P«w 

AM* 

Bk. 
Ck. 

rum 

PMHWl 

^. 

Ck. 

No. 

P-JWM 

Bk. 

1 

V 

14 

27 

40 

\ 

2 

15 

28 

41 

X 

3 

16 

29 

42 

4 

17 

30 

X 

43 

5 

18 

31 

44 

X 

6 

19 

32 

X 

45 

7 

20 

33 

46 

X 

8 

21 

34 

X 

47 

9 

22 

35 

48 

X 

10 

23 

36 

X 

49 

X 

11 

24 

37 

50 

12 

25 

38 

X 

51 

— 

13 

26 

39 

52 

X 

ADVERTISING  JACKET— Fig.   2 


ADVERTISEMENTS  29 

"All  right,  sign  the  contract,  and  give  the  dope  to 
Mamie  so  that  she  can  write  up  the  advertising  jacket, 
and  the  Banner  will  proclaim  for  another  year  all 
about  Pulana  and  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  are 
dead  now,  but  were  once  cured  by  this  wonder.  The 
next  one  will  have  to  pay  20  cents,  though." 

"Advertising  jacket?"  Bell  asked  in  amazement, 
"what  is  this  new  thing  you  have  now?" 

It  seems  that  Smith  had  forgotten  to  explain  to  Bell 
just  all  that  he  had  done  while  Bell  was  away,  and 
perhaps  he  did  not  have  time  the  day  before,  as  Bell 
had  left  too  suddenly. 

So,  now,  after  seeing  the  contract  signed,  and  put 
in  an  envelope  ready  to  be  mailed  back  to  the  agency, 
he  took  the  duplicate  contract  and  went  over  to  Mamie's 
desk,  where  she  was  waiting,  evidently  knowing  that 
she  was  expected  to  do  something.  On  the  desk  was 
a  legal  document  file,  which  held  No.  10  envelopes,  and 
slid  into  a  holder  or  container.  It  was  about  twelve 
inches  long,  and  just  the  right  height  and  width  to  con- 
tain the  envelopes.  Fifty-two  guide  cards  had  been  pre- 
pared with  what  is  known  as  three-cut.  Between  the 
guides  29  and  30  were  a  lot  of  envelopes,  with  con- 
siderable printing  on  the  faces;  others  were  strung 
along  for  the  next  few  numbers. 

It  developed  that  the  fifty-two  guif*e  cards  repre- 
sented the  fifty-two  weekly  issues  of  the  Banner  for  one 
year.  Each  issue  of  the  paper  was  numbered,  and  the 
guide  cards  corresponded  with  the  numbers  of  the 
paper. 

Mamie  took  out  a  few  of  the  enveloj.es,  and  while 


DATE  RECEIVED 

(Or/:. 


ADVERTISEMENT  FOR 


(7.  (l.  ^ 


OBTAINED  THROUGH 


DESCRIPTION 


INSTRUCTIONS 


COMMENCE 

2t«c  /    «// 

a/^/A.      .«-„          19  // 

£. 

PuWbh 

Bk. 
U. 

M'.. 
PV« 

P.*uh 

6 

No 
PMM 

PMKM 

g: 

d~« 

OL 

Ck. 

1 

14 

27 

40 

2 

15 

28 

41 

3 

4 
5 

16 

29 

42 

17 

30 

X 

43 

— 

18 

31 

X 

44 

6 

19 

32 

X 

45 

7 

20 

33 

X 

43 

8 

21 

34 

47 

S 

22 

35 

48 

10 

23 

36 

49 

11 

24 

37 

50 

12 

25 

38 

51 

13 

26 

39 

52 

ADVERTISING    JACKET— Fig.    3 


ADVERTISEMENTS  31 

Smith  returned  to  work  she  started  in  to  explain  just 
what  they  meant  and  how  they  were  used. 

To  repeat  the  entire  conversation  between  Mamie 
and  Bell  would  be  tiresome,  but  here  are  the  facts  as 
brought  out  for  Bell's  information.  It  appeared  that 
the  Banner,  like  many  other  newspapers,  did  not  have 
a  good  method  of  keeping  track  of  advertisements, 
with  the  result  that  many  were  run  incorrectly,  some 
run  longer  than  the  contract  called  for,  many  started 
before  the  time,  and  some  put  in  the  wrong  place.  It 
seemed  to  be  the  assumption  that  Smith  could  keep 
all  these  details  in  his  head,  and  that  was  part  of  what 
he  was  paid  for.  Being  now  a  partner,  he  refused  to 
carry  this  burden  any  longer,  therefore  he  evolved  the 
scheme  of  making  out  a  "jacket,"  as  he  called  it,  for 
each  contract,  and  so  arranging  matters  that  mistakes 
would  not  occur  in  the  future. 

Four  of  the  five  reproductions  of  "jackets"  we  give 
were  the  ones  Mamie  showed  Bell.  The  first  part  of 
the  reading  on  the  envelopes  Bell  could  quite  readily 
grasp,  as  it  showed  the  date  the  advertisement  was  re- 
ceived, and  gave  it  a  number.  This  he  had  to  ask 
about,  and  an  advertising  register  made  out  of  a  com- 
mon day-book  was  shown,  where  in  numerical  order 
the  advertisements  were  set  down.  Whom  the  adver- 
tisement was  for,  who  sent  it  in  or  where  obtained,  he 
understood,  as  well  as  a  general  description  and  the 
checking  off  of  the  class  of  advertisement  and  instruc- 
tion for  running,  and  the  dates  to  commence  and  to 
stop.  There  was  nothing  mysterious  about  those,  but 
when  it  came  to  the  cross  lines  and  the  numbers  and 


DATE  RECEIVED 
ADVERTISEMENT  FOR 

<Z.J 


OBTAINED  THOUGH 


DISPLAY 

READER 

CLASSIFIED    y 

LEGAL 

INSTRUCTIONS 


COMMENQE 

cn**s-  t  ,.// 

STOP 

H 

Ptir 

Poke* 

£ 

A 

P*** 

£: 

- 

P**. 

Pk. 
C*. 

No. 

PV^ 

Puawi 

Bk. 
Ck. 

1 

14 

27 

40 

2 

15 

28 

41 

3 

16 

29 

42 

4 

17 

30 

s 

— 

43 

5 

13 

31 

44 

6 

19 

— 

32 

45 

7 

20 

33 
34 

48 

8 

21 

47 

9 
10 

22 

35 
3G 

48 

~ 

23 

49 

11 

24 

37 

50 

12 

25 

38 

51 

13 

26 

39 

52 

ADVERTISING   JACKET— Fig.    4 


ADVERTISEMENTS  33 

other  things,  he  was  stuck,  and  it  was  up  to  Mamie  to 
explain. 

It  developed  that  the  four  columns  contained  fifty- 
two  numbers,  representing  the  numbers  of  the  paper 
for  a  year.  The  lines  running  from  the  upper  left- 
hand  to  the  lower  right-hand  corners  of  the  spaces 
opposite  the  numbers  indicated  that  the  advertisement 
was  to  run  in  the  papers  with  those  numbers.  When 
the  advertisement  was  run,  Smith  would  draw  a  line 
the  opposite  way,  making  a  cross,  and  in  the  case  of 
a  display  advertisement  where  the  number  of  inches 
was  not  always  the  same,  he  wrote  over  the  cross  the 
number  of  inches  in  the  advertisements.  The  figures 
34,  60,  24,  etc.,  on  No.  1  represented  the  number  of 
inches  of  space  that  advertisement  took  in  the  weeks 
corresponding  to  the  number  of  the  paper.  The  little 
check  mark  after  the  number,  Mamie  explained,  showed 
that  she  had  checked  the  amount,  and  had  charged  the 
People's  Dept.  Store  with  the  advertisement.  The  Bk. 
and  the  Ck.  at  the  top  of  the  column  stood  for  "Book- 
keeper's Check,"  showing  that  the  bookkeeper  had 
checked  it  off,  and  if  the  company  was  not  charged 
for  the  amount  it  was  her  fault. 

Then  came  the  matter  of  the  guide  cards,  and 
Mamie  explained  still  further  that  the  coming  week 
all  Smith  had  to  do  was  to  go  to  No.  30,  grab  all  the 
envelopes  there,  and  he  would  have  all  the  information 
he  wanted  as  to  what  advertisements  to  run,  how  to 
run  them,  and  all  other  important  matters.  After  he 
was  through  with  them  he  would  cross  them  off,  as 
explained,  and  then  Mamie  would  file  as  No.  31  all 
envelopes  of  weekly  advertisements,  or  in  the  case  of 


DATE  RECEIVED 


ADVERTISEMENT  FOR 


OBTAINED  THROUGH 


INSTRUCTIONS 

CJL 


ADVERTISING   JACKET— Fig.    5 


ADVERTISEMENTS  35 

No.  53,  would  put  it  under  No.  32,  as  the  advertise- 
ment ran  every  other  week,  and  would  not  have  to  be 
run  every  week  as  before,  in  order  that  wrong  inser- 
tions would  be  avoided. 

It  was  quite  simple,  even  though  the  thing  was  dif- 
ferent from  the  old  way. 

Mamie  then  went  to  her  task  of  writing  up  the 
jacket  for  the  new  contract  which  is  shown  as  No.  61. 
Bell  returned  to  his  desk,  his  head  in  somewhat  of  a 
daze,  and  he  glanced  at  Smith  with  queer  expression, 
but  Smith  was  busy  locking  up  a  job  for  the  job  presses 
and  whistling  in  that  half  subdued  way  that  was  a 
habit  of  his  when  things  were  going  right. 

Bell  could  not  avoid  a  smile,  and  picked  up  his 
beloved  daily  paper  and  commenced  reading  the  world 
events. 

The  noisy  hum  of  a  job  press  was  heard,  the  click 
of  the  letters  as  they  fell  into  Mamie's  stick,  and  the 
business  of  the  country  newspaper  went  along  until 
the  whistle  at  Anderson's  mill  told  of  the  noon  hour. 

Just  as  Smith  was  leaving  the  door,  following  Ma- 
mie, Bell  called  him  back. 

"Say,  Smith,"  he  said,  "I  just  happened  to  think 
about  the  slip  you  showed  me  when  you  put  up  the 
proposition  about  a  half  interest  in  the  Banner.  Where 
did  you  get  the  figures  as  to  the  amount  of  office  furni- 
ture, and  presses  and  other  stuff  in  the  shop,  and  sep- 
arate it  all  so  nicely?" 

"Oh,  that  was  easy,  Mr.  Bell,"  Smith  answered. 
"You  see,  a  few  months  ago  I  got  the  notion  that  I 
should  like  to  be  your  partner,  and  I  wondered  what 
the  plant  was  worth.  Then  along  came  Underwood, 


36  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

who  travels  for  the  typefoundry,  and  being  good 
friends  we  went  at  it  on  a  Sunday,  he  staying  here 
instead  of  going  to  Columbus,  and  we  took  an  inven- 
tory. Here  it  is,  all  in  shape,  with  each  item  listed 
and  priced  by  Underwood,  with  something  marked  off 
for  depreciation.  You  might  check  it  up,  if  you  like." 
Bell  was  surprised  for  the  third  time  that  morning. 
First  came  the  shock  over  the  new  rate  for  the  patent 
medicine  advertisement,  then  the  "advertising  jacket," 
and  now  the  inventory!  He  straightened  as  though 
about  to  relieve  his  mind  of  something  that  was  forcing 
itself  for  expression,  but  evidently  thought  better. 

Something  like,  "I'll  be  d ,"  escaped  his  lips,  but 

they  smiled  as  he  grabbed  his  hat  and  followed  Mamie 
and  Smith  down  Bladon's  main  street. 


Commercial 
Printing 


Ill 

COMMERCIAL  PRINTING 

T  IS  quite  the  accepted  thing  to  call  the  first  working 
day  of  the  week  "Blue  Monday."  Usually  it  means 
starting  in  on  hard  work  after  a  day  of  rest,  and  the 
beginning  of  another  week  of  toil  and  worry.  In  the 
average  country  printing  office  Monday  is  not  accepted 
as  "blue;"  it  is  usually  the  reverse,  a  day  to  take  things 
easy,  distribute  type,  clean  up,  look  over  the  exchanges, 
a  day  of  doing  small  things,  and  never  to  hurry.  The 
last  three  or  four  days  of  the  week  are  the  busy  days, 
and  if  the  help  show  up  a  little  late  on  Monday  morn- 
ing nothing  is  said,  as  probably  they  had  worked  one 
or  two  nights  the  week  previous  getting  out  the  paper 
and  rushing  out  some  jobwork. 

To  Jefferson  Bell,  Monday  meant  a  day  of  pleasur- 
able reading  of  the  exchanges  which  had  come  in  on 
Saturday  and  Sunday,  and  some  visiting  among  his 
cronies  of  the  town. 

So  it  was  with  no  hurry  that  he  sauntered  down 
the  street  on  his  way  to  the  shop  on  the  brisk  morning 
in  November,  1911.  He  knew  that  John  Smith  was 
on  the  job,  and  taking  care  of  the  routine  there,  and 
nothing  important  would  occur  to  demand  his  im- 
mediate attention. 

39 


40  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

In  fact,  he  was  thinking  of  something  Smith  had 
said  on  Saturday  about  getting  more  job  printing. 
Smith  rather  sarcastically  implied  that  a  lot  of  the 
business  men  of  Bladon  were  not  using  printed  sta- 
tionery, just  because  they  had  not  been  asked  to  have 
some  printed.  Bell  thought  that  the  business  men 
knew  that  the  Banner  did  job  printing,  and  if  they 
wanted  some  printing  they  would  tell  him.  As  he 
went  down  the  street,  and  noted  the  various  business 
houses,  he  remembered  that  he  had  done  very  little 
printing  for  several  of  them,  and  perhaps  there  was 
something  in  what  Smith  said  after  all,  and  it  would 
not  be  a  bad  idea  to  ask  one  or  two  for  a  job  of  print- 
ing. Bell  was  no  salesman,  nor  had  he  read  any  of 
the  many  books  and  articles  on  salesmanship — it  was 
not  in  his  line.  Yet  Smith's  comments  made  him 
realize  that  perhaps  the  difficulties  he  had  had  in  the 
past  were  to  some  extent  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
not  gone  after  the  business.  Smith  was  certainly  mak- 
ing things  change  around  the  shop,  and  Bell  felt  that 
it  was  up  to  him  to  get  some  more  business — if  pos- 
sible. 

The  first  place  that  Bell  entered  was  the  harness 
shop,  run  by  John  Ackerman  for  twenty  years.  Only 
once  had  John  ordered  some  printing,  and  that  was 
many  years  ago,  so  there  was  no  doubt  but  what  he 
would  need  some  more  letter-heads  after  all  these 
years.  When  Bell  made  known  his  proposition,  John 
turned  around  from  his  bench  in  great  surprise,  took 
off  his  glasses  and  opened  his  mouth  in  amazement. 

"By  golly,  Bell,"  he  finally  spurted  out,  "you  fel- 
lows are  getting  a  sudden  move  on  you,  ain't  you?" 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  41 

"What  do  you  mean?"  Bell  asked  in  surprise. 
"This  is  the  first  time  I  ever  asked  you  for  any  print- 
ing." 

"That  is  just  it,"  John  said  solemnly,  "but  it  doesn't 
need  you  and  Smith  both  to  get  some  printing  from 
me." 

"What's  Smith  got  to  do  with  my  asking  you  fol 
a  job  of  printing?" 

"By  golly,  Smith  was  in  here  Saturday  night  and 
asked  me  why  I  didn't  have  some  letter-heads  printed, 
and  by  golly,  he  just  fixed  up  some  reading  and  said 
I  oughter  have  250  envelopes  and  500  letter -heads,  and 
he  was  going  to  print  them  for  me,  and  make  me  a 
real  business  man.  By  golly,  that  Smith  is  getting  to 
be  a  corker.  Said  I  oughter  have  an  ad.  in  the  paper, 
too.  And  now  you  want  some  printing.  No,  sir,  that 
one  lot  will  do  me  for  a  long  time." 

And  John  grabbed  his  awl,  and  viciously  pushed 
it  through  the  leather  he  was  working  on,  and  picked 
up  his  waxed  thread,  while  Bell  made  his  exit.  So 
Smith  was  after  the  business.  Leaving  nothing  for 
him  to  do.  Funny  business,  this! 

In  the  midst  of  his  thoughts  as  he  sauntered  down 
the  street,  he  heard  his  name  mentioned,  and  turning 
around  he  saw  Walter  Feehan,  the  blacksmith.  Stop- 
ping to  see  what  he  wanted,  Bell  was  informed  that 
Feehan  had  decided  to  announce  that  he  could  repair 
automobiles,  and  wanted  some  cards  printed  with  that 
on,  besides  mentioning  that  he  did  general  blacksmith- 
ing.  Taking  the  order  for  500  cards,  Bell  almost 
forgot  his  turn  down  by  Ackerman,  and  as  he  started 


Promised 


COMPOSITION 


LKbt 

FWKT 
Rate 

Nice  Job 
Cheap  Job 


PRESS  WORK 


ffU. 


Block 

)6C 

tea  Pad 


To  bt  Odled  for 


JOB    TICKET    ENVELOPE— FIG.    1 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  43 

on  his  way  again  his  step  was  lighter,  as  he  had  se- 
cured an  order  for  printing  also. 

Going  by  the  bank,  he  was  again  stopped,  this  time 
by  the  cashier  motioning  to  him  to  come  in,  and  for 
a  second  time  that  morning  he  got  a  printing  order, 
this  last  being  for  10,000  deposit  slips. 

"Look  here,  Bell,"  the  cashier  said,  "I  want  a  right 
price  on  these.  I  can  get  them  in  Columbus  mighty 
cheap,  but  I'd  rather  give  you  my  work,  and  you  will 
be  expected  to  meet  that  price.  You  tell  Smith  he 
can't  start  in  getting  rich  from  us/' 

Many  a  time  Bell  had  accepted  work  from  the  bank 
at  a  price  he  was  sure  was  too  low,  just  because  the 
cashier  had  told  him  about  prices  he  could  get  printing 
done  for,  and  the  remarks  of  the  cashier  were  nothing 
new.  It  was  an  old  story  and  rankled  in  Bell's  breast, 
but  it  was  cash  printing  and  not  trade,  and  this  had 
meant  something  in  the  past  to  Bell. 

"You  may  be  sure  we  will  do  the  work  as  cheap 
as  any  one,"  Bell  replied,  and  started  toward  the  print- 
ing office. 

On  his  beloved  desk  was  the  Monday  morning 
mail,  mostly  exchanges  from  the  editors  whom  he  per- 
sonally knew,  or  from  the  near-by  towns.  All  thoughts 
of  jobwork  and  orders  left  his  mind  at  once,  and  after 
disposing  of  his  coat  and  hat,  the  world  and  all  that 
is  in  it  were  forgotten,  while  full  attention  was  given 
to  the  papers. 

Suddenly  he  started,  as  in  some  way  his  mini 
reverted  to  the  events  on  his  way  to  the  office,  and  he 
fished  out  the  two  jobs  he  had  received.  Bell  made 
the  necessary  changes  on  the  card  to  include  "auto- 


">Vtr    3 ,  ;  <?  y  J 


Promised 


STOCK 


COMPOSITION                     ^^      Hovy                stone  Proof  to 

£:S^ 

as  near  as  J   Plain                  Revise  to 
^ossibkX      Nke  Job 

Machfa.          Cheap  Job        Ot*****- 

PRESS  WORK 

Color  Ink 

Proof  to 

BIND 

Block 

/  crt 

in  a  Pad 

Perforate 

No. 

DeUver                    ^/-                    Dellw    J     g** 

Delivered  by      /             1  a                To  be  Called  for 

Ship  by                                               To 
VU 

^^     ^    7^              Cort<rf       <?   <                Jounul    9   &> 
•*•  Stock          &  ^                                ^  ° 

JOB    TICKET    ENVELOPE— FIG.    2 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  45 

mobile  repairing,"  and  wrote  the  figures  "500"  in  one 
corner.  He  took  the  deposit  slip  and  wrote  "10M" 
on  it,  and  got  up  from  his  desk. 

"Where  has  the  job  hook  gone?" 

These  were  the  first  words  that  Smith  had  heard 
that  morning  from  Bell.  Standing  near  the  place 
where  once  were  several  hooks,  each  consisting  of  an 
iron  base  with  a  bent  hook  of  steel,  slightly  curved  at 
the  bottom,  and  artistically  bent  outward  toward  the 
top,  with  a  very  sharp  point,  Bell  looked  in  bewilder- 
ment at  the  spot. 

For  ten  years  the  "job  hooks"  had  hung  there  and 
had  done  noble  duty.  Many  were  the  jobs  of  printing 
that  had  been  put  on  those  hooks,  with  amount  care- 
fully written  on  each  (when  not  forgotten),  and  Smith 
had  for  years  taken  the  copy  off  the  hooks,  set  the 
type,  locked  the  form,  printed  them  on  the  platen  pres- 
ses, tabbed  them,  wrapped  them  up  and  delivered  them. 
When  this  was  done,  the  copy  was  hung  on  another 
hook,  over  which  was  a  piece  of  paper,  very  dirty  and 
the  corners  lost  or  torn,  with  but  part  of  the  legend, 
"Completed  Jobs,"  showing.  When  the  "job  hook"" 
was  full,  Bell  would  complain  about  being  very  busyr 
and  when  it  was  empty,  that  business  was  "very  poor 
indeed."  It  was  the  barometer  of  his  business  and 
indicated  in  the  only  way  he  knew  just  how  much 
business  was  being  done.  It  was  quite  true  that  some- 
times jobs  had  hung  on  the  hook  for  a  month  or 
more  at  a  time,  and  often  explanations  had  been  made 
to  the  customer  why  they  were  not  done.  "Stock  failed 
to  come,"  "Very  busy,"  "We  are  getting  right  at  it," 
and  other  excuses  had  been  given. 


2.   19  If 


2  3 


DESCRIPTION 


Promised 


STOCK 


COMPOSITION 


Sample 
M  near  a* 
PoMlblc 


Heavy 
Uicht 
F*ncy 
Plain 
Nice  Job 
Cheap  Job 


DtUvered  b. 


TobcOOedfor 


Ship  (7 


JOB    TICKET    ENVELOPE— FIG.    3 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  47 

On  some  occasions  the  copy  itself  had  mysteriously 
disappeared  from  the  "job  hook,"  for  which  there  was 
no  excuse — but  it  had  happened.  In  fact,  the  same 
thing  had  occurred  in  regard  to  the  "Completed  Job" 
hook,  as,  for  instance,  when  Louis  Knight,  the  grocer, 
three  or  four  months  after  he  had  had  some  statements 
printed,  had  asked  when  Bell  was  going  to  send  in  his 
bill  and  get  the  account  straightened  up.  These  were, 
of  course,  the  usual  sad  incidents  to  the  printing  busi- 
ness, and  were  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  and  ex- 
plained to  the  customer  in  the  best  way  possible. 

Now,  the  hooks  themselves  had  disappeared! 

This  was  quite  unthinkable,  but  perhaps  they  had 
been  moved.  Everything  in  the  shop  was  being  turn- 
ed around,  and  these  were  no  doubt  taken  from  the 
convenient  place  they  had  occupied  and  put  some 
place  not  so  handy. 

"Job  hooks?"  Smith  answered.  "Why  we  haven't 
any." 

"No  job  hooks!"  Bell  exclaimed.  "Well,  perhaps 
you  can  tell  me  what  you  are  going  to  do  with  these 
two  orders  for  job  printing  that  I  have." 

"Two  more  orders?"  Smith  said.  "That  is  good!" 
Give  them  to  Mamie,  and  she  will  write  up  the  job 
tickets  and  we  will  get  them  right  out.  That  makes 
four  orders  today." 

"Oh,  it  does,  does  it?  What  has  Mamie  to  do  with 
the  jobwork?  Thought  she  was  going  to  set  type. 
And  what's  this  'job  ticket'  business,  anyway?" 

When  a  man  has  done  business  in  a  certain  way 
for  ten  years  or  more,  it  is  natural  that  he  should 
resent  any  change.  The  customs  of  the  past  are  too 


.   3, 


SB 


6. 


gcc 


Promised 


STOCK 


COMPOSITION 

Like  Copy 

Heavy 

SUMM  Proof  to 

Like 

Ught 

Simple 

Fancy 

u  near  u 

PUta 

lUvlae  to 

Poulble 

Nice  Job 

Machln. 

Cheap  Job 

CLtx*AA. 

PRESS  WORK 

Color  Ink 

®t*4. 

Proof  to 

BIND 
C//VC 

xv\ 

y  x 

? 

Block 

** 

n 

fr~*\Jis 

Jk^* 

Perforate 

G7~<r 

\A. 

$ 

No. 

Deliver                         .^ 

Delivered 

Delivered  by 

To  be  Calkd  (or 

Ship  by 

To 

Vi» 

Price 

CoUof 

\     Journal 

Stock                                I 

JOB    TICKET    ENVELOPE— FIG.    4 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  49 

strong  to  allow  him  to  immediately  take  to  a  change, 
unless  he  has  himself  thought  the  matter  out  and 
decided  a  change  is  necessary.  When  Jefferson  Bell 
took  in  John  Smith  as  a  partner  he  did  not  contemplate 
any  radical  changes  in  his  method  of  doing  business. 
Only  because  necessity  made  it  imperative  had  Bell 
entered  into  an  agreement  for  a  partnership,  as  he  had 
run  his  own  business  too  long  to  want  to  give  anything 
up.  To  him  the  partnership  had  meant  that  certain 
urgent  things  that  had  bothered  him  would  worry  him 
no  longer,  and  that  business  would  run  more  smooth- 
ly, and  besides  he  would  not  have  to  worry  about 
Smith  leaving  him.  Instead  of  all  this,  he  found  that 
his  new  partner  had  completely  changed  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  shop  and  had  added  a  new  way  to  handle 
advertisements. 

Smith  started  in  to  explain  about  the  unfortunate 
incidents  of  lost  copy,  jobs  not  being  completed  on 
time,  and  also  about  certain  jobs  that  had  not  been 
changed  because  of  loss  of  copy  from  the  "completed" 
hook,  and  a  few  other  things  which  were  ancient  his- 
tory. Then  he  said  that  he  had  thought  the  proper 
way  to  handle  jobs  and  avoid  such  things  happening, 
and  also  to  keep  a  complete  record  of  the  job  printing 
they  were  doing,  was  to  have  a  job  ticket  on  which 
would  be  given  details  of  the  work,  and  if  in  the  form 
of  an  envelope  the  copy  could  be  put  in  it;  and  finally 
when  the  job  was  done,  a  new  copy,  or  a  completed 
copy  of  the  job,  could  be  put  in  it  and  thus  preserved. 
Besides,  if  a  re-order  came  in  they  could  look  up  the 
old  job  ticket  and  get  the  copy  and  full  details,  as 
well  as  the  old  price. 


lor  completion  ol  job.    Numbcf  every  job. 


Promised 


STOCK 


X? 


COMPOSITION 


PRESS  WORK 


To  be  C*lkJ  (or 


Prie«       v      2   •         I     Coa  «rf 

Stock 


JOB    TICKET    ENVELOPE— FIG.    5 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  51 

First,  the  jobs  could  be  registered,  and  he  showed 
Bell  a  ruled  and  printed  book,  with  room  for  ten 
jobs  on  a  page,  with  numbers,  and  the  dates  the  jobs 
were  received.  Here  were  already  recorded  ten  jobs, 
including  that  received  from  John  Ackerman,  and 
Smith  showed  the  record  to  Bell. 

Then  came  the  question  of  the  job  tickets,  and 
Smith  took  Bell  to  the  composing  stone,  where  in 
a  neat  box  fastened  to  the  furniture  case  reposed  sev- 
eral of  the  job  tickets.  These,  it  appeared,  were  jobs 
that  had  been  set  up  and  were  ready  to  be  printed. 
Near  the  job  case  was  another  box  containing  one  or 
two  tickets  on  which  the  type  had  not  been  set.  Over 
by  the  job  press  was  still  another  box  with  some  tickets, 
which  showed  those  jobs  were  being  printed  or  were 
ready  to  be  printed,  and  finally  a  couple  of  completed 
jobs  were  on  the  table  ready  to  be  tabbed,  with  the 
tickets  carefully  inserted  between  the  sheets  of  paper. 

Mamie  made  out  the  tickets  under  instructions 
from  Smith,  and  when  the  jobs  were  delivered  the 
date  was  put  down,  and  then  the  price  of  the  job,  the 
cost  of  the  stock,  and  the  whole  transaction  entered 
on  the  books.  The  tickets  that  had  been  completed 
were  kept  in  a  file  similar  to  the  one  used  for  the 
advertising  jackets,  and  could  be  referred  to  at  any 
time.  In  this  way  the  work  was  always  in  view  and 
details  known,  and  nothing  could  be  lost  without 
knowing  about  it. 

"I  guess  it's  all  right,"  Bell  finally  said,  after 
looking  over  the  various  tickets,  some  of  which  are 
reproduced  here,  "and  if  you  want  to  go  to  all  this 
bother,  all  right.  If  I  get  any  jobs  I'll  hand  them  to 


JOB  REGISTER 


Number 

3LI 


Quantity       Description 


Number 

2.2. 


o- 


Quantity       Description 


Number 

23 


Quantity       Description 


G. 


Quantity       Description 


Co. 


Quantity 


Co. 


Quantity 


Number 

3-7 


Quantity       Description 


.  5 


Quantity 
iif 


tr.    7 


Quantity       Description 


Number 

3  £> 


Quantity       Description 


JOB  REGISTER 


COMMERCIAL  PRINTING  53 

you  and  you  can  do  as  you  please,  as  long  as  the 
work  is  gotten  out.  It's  up  to  you." 

Smith  took  the  jobs  Bell  had  and  started  to  give 
them  to  Mamie.  He  looked  intently  at  the  one  from 
the  bank. 

"What  did  the  cashier  say,"  he  suddenly  asked, 
"when  he  gave  you  this  job?" 

"Oh,  he  said  that  he  would  let  us  do  the  job  if 
we  did  it  as  cheaply  as  he  could  get  it  in  Columbus." 
To  the  surprise  of  Bell,  Smith  took  off  his  apron, 
grabbed  his  hat  and  started  for  the  door. 

"Where  are  you  going?"     Bell  exclaimed. 

"Down  to  see  that  cashier.  He  needn't  think  be- 
cause he  is  a  friend  of  mine  he  can  pull  that  stuff. 
If  he  wants  us  to  do  this  work  ha  will  pay  our  price, 
or  send  it  away.  And  I  am  going  to  tell  him  so." 
And  the  door  slammed. 

Bell  looked  at  Mamie,  Mamie  looked  at  Bell,  and 
both  looked  at  the  door. 

Quietness  reigned  supreme  for  half  an  hour,  and 
then  Smith  came  in. 

"Make  up  a  ticket  for  this  order,  Mamie,"  he 
said,  and  started  to  put  on  his  apron. 

"What  did  the  cashier  say?"  Bell  asked,  "and  did 
you  have  to  come  to  his  price?" 

"Not  by  any  means!  That  fellow  is  all  right  ex- 
cept when  he  has  to  spend  a  cent.  I  told  him  a  few 
things,  and  he  said  he  was  only  kidding  us,  and  to 
go  ahead  with  the  work,  only  not  to  rob  him  too  bad." 

Now,  Bell  was  not  a  profane  man,  but  occasionally 
he  said  things  not  looking  well  in  'print,  and  this 


54  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

was  an  occasion  on  which  he  said  them,  and  took  his 
hat  and  went  out. 

Smith  was  locking  up  a  form  and  whistling  in  that 
quiet  way  of  his  when  he  was  content  and  pleased  with 
the  world.  Again  he  had  won  his  point  and  was  be- 
ginning to  feel  a  certain  satisfaction  in  the  innova- 
tions he  was  making  around  the  Banner  office. 


Income 


IV 
INCOME 

rTTlHERE  are  just  two  kinds  of  people  in  the  world. 
JL  There  are  those  that  worry  and  those  that  don't. 
Of  these  two  classes  it  is  mighty  hard  to  say  which  is 
in  the  majority,  but  taking  the  average  country  news- 
paper publisher,  we  would  say  that  he  belongs  to 
the  "don't  worry"  class.  Jefferson  Bell  was  no  worse 
or  no  better  than  the  average  editor  who  conducts 
a  country  newspaper.  He  was  an  editor  and  not  a  busi- 
ness man.  He  could  write  a  red-hot  editorial,  a  nice 
four-line  local,  and  a  write  up  of  a  Fourth  of  July 
celebration  that  you  would  always  remember.  He  was 
a  good  proofreader,  particular  as  to  punctuation,  and 
a  crank  on  spelling.  He  insisted  on  keeping  the  word 
"county"  down,  and  always  referred  to  the  county  as 
"Wayne  county."  To  capitalize  "county"  meant  dire 
consequences  to  the  unhappy  compositor  that  did  the 
terrible  deed.  All  of  these  things  he  understood  as 
being  highly  important  in  the  making  of  a  newspaper, 
and  without  them  the  paper  would  be  a  failure.  He 
watched  the  "upstarts"  who  went  into  the  business, 
and  scoffed  when  they  fell  down  in  any  of  the  little 
niceties  of  "style,"  or  spelling  and  punctuation.  Bell 
would  fret  and  fume  for  days  over  some  simple  error 

57 


53  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

that  had  crept  into  the  paper,  and  every  time  he  picked 
up  that  particular  issue  he  could  see  nothing  but  that 
error,  and  he  imagined  that  every  reader  saw  it. 

Yes,  we  will  take  it  all  back.  The  country  editors 
like  Jefferson  Bell  do  worry  and  fret  a  great  deal,  and 
perhaps,  after  all,  everybody  worries  over  something, 
and  therefore  there  is  only  one  class  of  people — all 
who  worry.  But  when  we  think  of  worry  in  the  first 
sense  we  think  about  worrying  over  money  matters. 
Seemingly  that  is  the  only  great  thing  to  worry  about. 
If  that  is  the  true  test,  then  few  country  publishers 
worry — and  Jefferson  Bell  least  of  all.  It  is  true  that 
on  Fridays,  when  the  "insides"  came  and  enough  money 
to  pay  the  C.O.D.  had  to  be  rustled,  he  did  worry  some- 
what, but  when  the  amount  was  at  hand  to  pay  the 
obligation,  financial  worries  and  Jefferson  Bell  were 
far  apart. 

Not  so  John  Smith.  If  he  ever  ceased  to  worry 
about  money  it  was  only  in  his  sleep.  He  was  a 
good  printer,  steady  and  ever  on  the  job,  but  as  to 
writing  a  three-line  local,  or  even  a  two-liner,  that 
was  not  his  job.  He  might  do  it  in  a  pinch,  but  he 
preferred  not.  Give  him  something  to  figure  out 
as  a  mathematical  problem,  and  just  to  know  how 
much  money  he  spent  each  week,  then  you  were  getting 
at  something  he  could  understand.  In  a  neat  little 
book  he  had  down  in  black  and  white  every  dollar  he 
had  earned,  and  what  he  had  done  with  it.  There 
are  that  kind  of  people,  and  John  Smith  was  one. 
He  was  not  stingy  nor  even,  as  some  call  it,  "near," 
for  on  the  contrary  he  spent  quite  freely,  but  just  the 
same  he  kept  track  of  it. 


INCOME  59 

For  a  week  John  had  been  spending  part  of  his 
time  talking  to  the  cashier  of  the  bank,  and  looking 
at  forms  and  books,  and  writing  things  on  sheets  of 
paper.  Seemingly  long  discussions  were  being  held, 
and  there  were  lots  of  arguments.  Bell  was  rather 
amused  at  all  this,  but  having  known  Smith  for  so 
many  years  thought  nothing  of  it.  That  Smith  was 
planning  another  new  scheme  to  put  into  the  business 
did  not  enter  his  head.  The  "advertising  jacket"  and 
"job  ticket"  were  certainly  enough,  and  Bell  could 
not  comprehend  anything  else.  These  two  were  cer- 
tainly plenty  for  any  shop  to  keep  track  of. 

One  day  Smith  asked  Bell  to  stay  a  few  minutes 
after  work  to  talk  things  over,  and  much  to  Bell's 
consternation  some  funny  questions  were  asked  him. 

"Mr.  Bell,"  Smith  said,  "do  you  know  how  much 
business  you  did  last  year?  That  is,  how  much  job 
printing,  advertising,  legals,  subscription  receipts  and 
the  rest?" 

"I — er — I — eh,  well,  Smith,  to  tell  you  the  truth 
I  do  not  believe  that  I  could  give  you  the  exact  amount 
in  dollars  and  cents." 

"That  is  just  what  I  thought,"  said  Smith,  "and 
it  is  a  condition  that  will  not  be  in  this  shop  very 
much  longer.  The  cashier  and  myself  have  been  talk- 
ing over  methods  of  keeping  track  of  what  we  are  doing 
in  all  classes  of  work,  and  I  have  about  decided  to 
start  in  with  November  1,  and  find  out  what  we  are 
doing  every  month.  Guess  we  will  have  to  figure  out 
what  is  owing  us,  and  take  that  inventory  of  the  plant 
and  start  in  right." 

"That  might  be  a  good  idea,  Smith,  if  it  did  not 


60  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

take  too  much  time,"  Bell  replied.  "It  always  seemed 
to  me  that  so  much  bookkeeping  was  a  waste  of  time, 
but  you  seem  to  like  to  keep  a  book  full  of  figures, 
so  I  suppose  you  will  have  to  do  it." 

Long  after  Bell  had  gone,  Smith  sat  at  the  desk 
drawing  vertical  and  horizontal  lines  on  sheets  of 
paper  and  writing  in  words,  and  then  finally  a  smile 
spread  over  his  face,  and  putting  out  the  light  he 
went  out  to  his  supper  awaiting  him  at  the  boarding 
house. 

What  editor  does  not  attend  the  "church  sociables" 
and  entertainments?  Possibly  a  few  do  not,  but  the 
average  editor  knows  full  well  that  a  "write  up"  of 
the  entertainment,  with  full  mention  of  all  who  took 
part,  will  be  looked  for  in  the  coming  issue,  and  to 
leave  out  the  name  of  a  single  participant  would 
mean  considerable  dissatisfaction,  to  say  the  least. 
Believing  in  giving  all  the  news,  and  mentioning  just 
as  many  people  each  week  as  possible,  Jefferson  Bell 
never  missed  a  church  sociable  or  entertainment.  Be- 
sides, Mrs.  Bell  was  quite  a  church  worker,  and  that 
made  a  difference,  if  you  get  what  I  mean. 

The  evening  after  Smith  had  said  something  about 
knowing  how  much  business  they  were  doing,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bell  attended  one  of  the  periodical  entertainments 
at  the  village  church,  and  on  their  way  home  they 
noticed  a  light  in  the  shop,  and  people  moving  back 
and  forth.  As  they  were  just  across  the  street,  they 
decided  to  go  over  and  see  what  was  happening.  On 
opening  the  door  they  were  much  surprised  to  find 
Smith  and  Mamie  busily  at  work  over  some  books, 
and  the  cashier  of  the  bank  looking  on. 


INCOME  61 

"What's  the  matter,"  Bell  exclaimed.  "Has  the 
place  been  robbed,  or  what?" 

The  three  workers  looked  up  much  surprised,  and 
then  looked  at  one  another. 

"Well,"  Smith  said,  "we  intended  to  surprise  you, 
but  seeing  that  you  have  surprised  us,  I  guess  it  is 
best  to  tell  you  just  what  we  are  doing,  if  you  want  to 
stay  that  long." 

"If  Mary  doesn't  mind  waiting,  I  guess  it  will  be 
all  right,"  Bell  said,  as  he  was  rather  curious  to- 
know  just  what  all  the  excitement  was  about. 

"We  are  opening  a  set  of  books  for  the  firm," 
Smith  answered,  "and  the  cashier  here  is  giving  us 
some  pointers,  and  he  might  explain  just  what  we 
are  doing,  and  at  the  same  time  help  Mamie  and 
myself  over  some  difficulties." 

"For  goodness'  sake,  Jefferson,"  Mrs.  Bell  ex- 
claimed, "if  they  are  really  starting  a  set  of  books, 
stay  awhile.  You  know  I  have  been  after  you  for  years 
to  have  a  set  of  books,  and  now  that  John  is  doing  it  I 
am  indeed  interested." 

"All  right,"  Bell  said,  "I  guess  I  will  have  to  stay, 
and  perhaps  Mary  will  keep  still  about  a  set  of  books 
after  she  finds  out  how  much  trouble  it  is  going  to 
be.  I  got  along  pretty  well  for  ten  years  without  all 
this  foolishness,  but  perhaps  after  all  a  set  of  books 
will  help." 

"They  certainly  will,"  the  cashier  chipped  in,  "and 
I  know  that  it  will  mean  lots  for  you  both." 

"The  next  thing,  I  suppose,"  grumbled  Bell,  "you 
fellows  will  be  putting  in  one  of  those  newfangled  cost 
systems  I  have  noticed  The  Inland  Printer  has  been 


4 


I 


1^ 


^ 


j's 
V 


J 


^ 


IN 


N 


INI 


«3^ 


35 


INCOME  •    63 

printing  about.  It  will  be  all  system  and  no  paper, 
I'm  thinking." 

"Don't  worry  about  that,"  Mrs.  Bell  said.  "I  think 
we  can  safely  trust  John  here  not  to  go  too  far." 

John  Smith  did  not  seem  inclined  to  continue  the 
talk  on  this  point,  although  at  the  words  cost  system 
he  shook  his  head.  He  had  seen  time  sheets,  and  other 
things,  which  looked  to  him  like  a  whole  lot  more 
work  for  nothing,  and  he  didn't  want  to  add  too  much 
work  on  his  shoulders.  The  bookkeeping  Mamie  could 
take  care  of  after  it  was  fairly  started,  but  the  cost 
system  to  him  seemed  an  added  burden  to  his  work. 

After  a  short  time,  Smith  turned  to  the  cashier  and 
told  him  that  at  last  they  had  secured  a  statement, 
as  nearly  correct  as  possible,  of  what  was  owing  the 
concern  on  November  1,  had  divided  the  amount  up 
according  to  the  various  classes  of  work,  and  had  en- 
tered the  amounts  of  the  various  jobs  that  they  had 
done,  and  also  the  amounts  received  for  subscriptions, 
and  asked  what  next.  Evidently  the  cashier  thought 
they  had  done  enough  for  one  night. 

"That  will  be  enough,"  he  said,  "and  as  Mr.  Bell 
seems  to  want  to  see  what  we  are  doing,  suppose  we 
show  him  the  entries  that  have  been  made,  and  ex- 
plain them  to  him." 

Jefferson  Bell  joined  the  group,  and  then  the  cash- 
ier started  in  to  explain  just  what  the  entries  were, 
and  what  they  meant. 

"This  book  is  what  is  commonly  known  as  a  Com- 
bination Cash  Journal.  Many  accountants  do  not  ap- 
prove of  it,  and  I  tried  to  get  John  to  put  in  some- 
thing different,  but  he  had  figured  this  out,  with  some 


gt: 
It 

|  ; 
fc  - 


COM 


N 


N 


X 


N 


N 


4'jft 


OTALS 


ff 


13 


N 


N 


NtiS 


<?  N 


^ 


^S^ 


$:    ? 


31 


^§F 


INCOME  65 

suggestions  by  me,  and  would  not  change.  It  is  not 
what  bookkeepers  would  call  a  'regular'  set  of  books, 
but  if  it  is  properly  carried  out  it  will  certainly  tell 
you  exactly  what  your  income  is,  what — well,  as  we 
have  not  got  that  far  yet,  perhaps  right  now  we  had 
better  stay  by  the  income  alone." 

"Of  course  you  will  understand  that  the  first  col- 
umn is  for  the  dates,  just  as  written.  The  next  column 
headed  'No/  is  to  take  care  of  the  number  of  the 
job,  according  to  the  job  ticket  and  the  number  of  the 
advertising  jacket.  It  can  be  used  for  another  purpose, 
which  will  come  later,  and  we  will  not  take  the  time 
to  explain  that  now. 

"Under  the  heading  'For'  are  the  names  of  the 
various  persons  for  whom  you  have  done  work,  paid 
bills,  given  money,  and  other  transactions.  The  first 
six  items  are  part  of  the  inventory  which  I  have  asked 
John  to  put  down,  and  later  we  will  put  in  the  figures 
in  some  other  columns  to  the  right,  but  if  they  get 
this  income  thing  started  right  it  is  enough  for  now. 

"On  the  sixth  line  you  will  notice  the  words  'Ac- 
counts Receivable'  and  the  figures  under  the  heads  in 
the  columns  to  the  right.  This  is  as  near  as  we  can 
figure  what  was  owed  you  on  the  first  of  the  month. 
The  amounts  in  detail,  according  to  the  different  firms, 
are  on  this  slip  of  paper,  and  will  be  used  in  another 
way  later.  The  'Cash  on  Hand'  item  on  line  8  is  to  take 
care  of  what  you  had  on  hand  in  actual  cash  on  the 
first  day  of  the  month,  and  as  soon  as  John  has  dis- 
covered what  the  correct  amount  of  that  was  we  will 
put  it  in  another  column  to  the  right. 


66  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"You  will  notice  that  two  lines  are  left  with  your 
name  and  Smith's.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  what  both  of  you  have  in  the  concern,  which  will 
ie  figured  out  in  a  few  days.  The  rest  of  the  lines  are 
the  items  which  interest  us  right  now,  and  if  properly 
kept  they  will  show  you  what  your  income  is  from  the 
various  kinds  of  work  you  do." 

Bell  looked  at  the  open  book  and  seemed  very 
much  interested.  Perhaps  much  of  it  was  like  Greek 
to  him,  but  we  must  not  think  that  Bell  was  not  cap- 
able of  understanding  things  when  explained  to  him. 
He  certainly  understood  just  what  was  done,  but 
the  idea  that  it  would  be  of  much  use  had  not  struck 
him,  although  he  said  nothing. 

The  cashier  then  went  on  to  explain  that  every 
transaction  of  a  business  nature  that  occured  in  the 
concern  must  be  recorded  in  this  book.  It  was  the 
"book  of  original  entry,"  as  he  called  it.  Every  dol- 
lar received  on  subscription  must  be  put  down,  the 
date  the  dollar  was  received  and  from  whom,  and 
the  amount  carefully  put  in  the  column  headed  "Sub- 
scription," and  in  the  column  "Description"  an  ex- 
planation given  of  the  transaction.  Lines  13  and  14 
showed  just  how  the  matter  of  entering  jobwork  was 
taken  care  of,  the  other  lines  to  and  including  25 
carried  jobs  and  subscriptions.  There  were  25  lines 
.to  the  page.  The  first  two  lines  on  the  second  page 
contained  the  name  of  the  paper,  which  he  said  would 
be  taken  care  of  in  other  columns  later,  but  the  next 
lines  down  to  line  45  showed  how  the  different  ad- 
vertisements for  the  week  had  been  entered  and  di- 
vided into  the  various  classes  under  the  two  heads. 


INCOME  67 

Line  38,  however,  recorded  the  fact  that  twelve  copies 
of  the  paper  had  been  sold,  and  the  subscription  col- 
umn given  the  credit.  Line  45  showed  that  four  sheets 
of  cardboard  had  been  sold,  and  the  amount  entered 
under  "Stationery." 

All  questions  as  to  what  the  rest  of  the  columns 
on  the  right  were  for,  the  cashier  refused  to  answer, 
giving  as  an  excuse  that  it  was  late,  and  peihaps  in  a 
day  or  two  he  would  have  time  to  explain,  but  John 
had  an  idea,  and  as  the  various  transactions  took  place 
the  amounts  could  be  filled  in,  in  the  other  columns. 

As  the  other  columns  were  blank  we  have  thought 
best  to  follow  the  cashier's  plan  in  showing  our  re- 
production and  not  refer  to  them;  in  fact,  they  will 
not  be  printed,  and  as  the  columns  are  filled  out  by 
Mamie  and  John  Smith  we  will  tell,  in  the  following 
chapters,  just  how  it  was  done  and  the  reason  for 
each  entry. 

As  Jefferson  Bell  looked  at  the  two  pages  before 
him  he  plainly  saw  that  if  kept  up,  at  the  end  of  the 
month,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  his  career 
as  a  publisher  of  a  newspaper,  he  would  know  just 
how  much  business  he  had  done,  and  just  how  much 
advertising,  jobwork,  subscriptions  and  other  things 
had  contributed  to  the  total. 

Knowing  John  Smith  as  well  as  he  did,  and  know- 
ing that  John  had  always  kept  a  record  of  his  personal 
expenditures  and  income,  Bell  also  knew  that  the 
record  would  be  kept. 

He  walked  home  in  silence,  beside  his  better  half, 
and  although  she  looked  at  him  several  times,  he  went 
along  with  a  slightly  bent  head,  and  she  knew  that 


68  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Jefferson  Bell  was  doing  some  tall  thinking  and  would 
soon  have  something  to  say. 

"Mary,"  Bell  said  when  they  had  reached  home, 
"I  hope  you  are  now  satisfied.  The  grand  system  of 
bookkeeping  has  been  started  in  the  firm  of  Bell 
&  Smith." 

And  Mrs.  Bell  only  smiled. 


Cash 


CASH 

HPHERE  is  no  question  but  that  all  country  news- 
1  papers  make  money.  If  they  did  not,  how  is  it 
that  so  many  stay  in  existence?  Perhaps,  when  we  say 
existence,  that  just  about  answers  the  question.  They 
simply  exist,  and  that  is  all.  Yet,  ask  the  average 
editor  or  publisher  if  he  is  making  money,  and  he 
will  at  once  assert  that  he  is  making  "good"  money. 
It  is  not  the  plan  or  desire  right  here  to  contradict  that 
statement.  It  would  not  do  any  good  to  do  so — it 
would  not  change  the  situation  in  the  least.  The 
Banner  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  had  in  some  way 
managed  to  come  out  each  week.  All  its  bills  were 
paid,  and  Jefferson  Bell  owned  a  little  home  on  the 
edge  of  town.  He  ate  three  meals  a  day,  and  had  a 
bed  to  sleep  in.  Did  I  say  all  bills  were  paid?  They 
were,  simply  because  nothing  was  obtained  without 
the  money  in  advance.  Perhaps  there  had  been  a  time 
when  goods  came  on  thirty  days'  credit,  but  that  was 
long  ago. 

Yes,  Jefferson  Bell  had  prospered,  in  that  he  had 
managed  to  make  a  living  and  keep  the  wolf  from  the 
door,  but  he  had  become  indebted  to  John  Smith,  his 
printer,  now  his  partner,  and  to  the  bank.  This  he 

71 


72  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

counted  as  rather  unfortunate,  but  still  perhaps  not 
so  unfortunate  after  all,  as  he  owed  neither  of  them  at 
the  present  time,  and  did  not  have  to  worry  about 
Smith  quitting  him,  and  also  he  did  not  need  to 
worry — if  he  ever  did  worry — about  getting  the  money 
to  pay  Smith  every  week. 

But  Jefferson  Bell  had  a  wife  behind  him,  as  has 
many  another  publisher.  Some  one  has  said  it  is  not 
to  the  credit  of  the  country  publishers  that  they  man- 
age to  live  and  keep  going,  but  to  the  credit  of  their 
thrifty  wives.  And  Mrs.  Bell  was  thrifty.  She  man- 
aged her  home  well,  wasted  nothing,  and,  being  able 
to  sew,  accomplished  wonders  with  a  few  yards  of 
cloth.  All  the  credit  for  getting  along  need  not  go  to 
Jefferson  Bell,  not  by  a  great  deal.  Many  a  time  Bell 
came  home  on  the  day  the  "insides"  were  expected  to 
arrive,  and  told  his  wife  he  did  not  have  enough  money 
to  pay  the  C.O.D.,  and  some  way  Mrs.  Bell  happened 
to  have  enough  money  to  help  out,  and  another  issue 
of  the  Banner  was  saved  to  the  world. 

I  like  Jefferson  Bell.  I  love  him — a  kindly  man, 
with  a  great  big  heart,  and  with  a  great  love  for  his 
newspaper,  the  child  of  his  brain,  the  creature  of  his 
living  thoughts. 

Over  my  desk  there  hangs  a  picture.  The  central 
figure,  the  only  figure,  is  that  of  a  young  man,  sitting 
before  a  table  on  which  lies  a  violin.  His  right  hand 
is  extended  to  the  table,  and  the  fingers  are  in  the 
attitude  of  beating  time.  The  window  before  him  is 
open,  and  his  gaze  is  far  out  to  the  great  beyond,  and 
through  the  haze  of  his  cigarette  smoke  does  he  look. 
The  picture  is  called  "World  Lost."  He  knows  noth- 


CASH  73 

ing  of  the  world,  to  him  it  is  lost,  and  just  the  dreams 
of  his  music,  the  thoughts  that  came  to  him,  are  the 
only  realities  of  the  moment.  Nothing  else  matters. 

Now,  this  picture  is  almost  that  of  Jefferson  Bell. 
He  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  his  own — far  from  the 
realities  of  the  world — where  great  words  were  written, 
where  noble  thought  were  given,  and  material  things 
were  not  of  any  worth.  Do  you  get  what  I  mean? 
He  simply — to  put  it  in  slang  phrase — could  not  get 
down  to  earth.  He  was  not  materialistic.  He  could 
not  think  of  such  things  as  profit.  If  you  were  to 
ask  him  to  define  "profit"  he  could  not  do  it  in  the 
sense  that  it  means  making  a  certain  sum  of  money 
over  and  above  a  living. 

A  well  turned  phrase,  a  neat  sketchy  piece  of  writ- 
ing, and  an  interpretation  of  Shakespeare  appealed  to 
him.  He  was  a  great  friend  of  the  principal  of  the 
school,  and  of  the  ministers  of  the  town,  who  often 
visited  him  at  the  office  and  also  at  his  home  and  dis- 
cussed many  things  that  the  average  man  would  con- 
sider a  waste  of  time  talking  about. 

John  Smith  was  exactly  the  opposite.  You  could 
not  possibly  picture  him  dreamily  looking  out  of  the 
window,  his  fingers  tapping  the  time  of  a  tune  that  was 
but  a  thing  of  his  brain,  and  with  all  the  rest  of  the 
world  shut  out.  John  had  about  as  much  music  in 
his  soul  as  there  is  in  a  tin  can.  His  sole  contribution 
to  the  uplift  of  the  world  was  a  low,  soft  whistle, 
but  what  the  tune  might  be  no  one  had  ever  been  able 
to  figure.  If  he  ever  entered  into  a  lengthy  discussion 
over  some  obscure  subject  no  one  ever  heard  of  it. 
But  mention  something  about  statistics,  or  figures,  and 


74  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

just  plain  money,  and  Smith  was  ready  to  take  part. 

Bell  had  kept  his  books  in  his  head — at  least  that 
part  which  had  to  do  with  expenses  and  receipts — 
and  nothing  was  thought  of  profits.  He  was  perhaps 
like  many  another  printer  and  publisher — if  he  had 
some  money  in  his  pocket  on  a  Saturday  night  after 
paying  the  help  and  the  rent,  and  paying  for  other 
things,  then  he  had  some  money  and  business  was  good. 
Otherwise,  if  he  had  but  little  money,  business  was 
poor. 

Not  so  John  Smith.  His  little  book  contained 
a  record  of  every  cent  he  had  received,  every  cent 
that  he  had  spent,  and  his  bank  book  told  of  the 
balances  left  over,  which  might  be  termed  a  profit. 
He  always  knew  "where  he  was  at."  There  never  was 
any  guesswork  about  that. 

This  being  the  case,  it  could  only  naturally  be 
the  result  that  Smith  would  want  to  know  just  where 
the  money  came  from  to  keep  the  Banner  in  ex- 
istence, and  always  where  the  money  went.  He  would 
never  be  content  to  pay  bills  out  of  money  on  hand, 
and  divide  if  any  was  left  over.  Not  John  Smith. 

I  knew  of  two  printers  who  actually  conducted 
their  business  in  that  manner.  The  total  receipts  each 
day  were  divided  between  them,  and  when  a  bill  had 
to  be  paid,  each  paid  his  half.  It  may  sound  good, 
but  it  is  a  mighty  poor  way  to  run  a  business. 

Smith  had  found  out  that  whenever  he  received 
money  he  had  to  do  something  with  it.  Either  it  was 
spent  or  put  aside  for  saving.  The  idea  got  into  his 
head  that  in  every  transaction  there  are  two  sides,  and 
two  records  must  be  made  of  the  transaction.  When 


CASH  75 

he  talked  this  over  with  the  cashier  of  the  tank  he 
soon  learned  of  one  of  the  laws  of  bookkeeping,  which 
it  is  just  as  well  to  discuss  here. 

The  first  point  that  should  be  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  any  person  who  wants  to  have  a  system  of 
bookkeeping  is  that  whenever  a  debit  entry  is  made 
a  credit  entry  must  also  be  made.  Books  must  balance. 
If  $5,000  is  put  into  a  concern,  then  each  person  put- 
ting in  any  part  of  this  sum  is  credited  with  the  amount 
he  has  put  in,  but  cash  is  debited,  or  shown  to  have 
that  amount.  When  money  is  spent,  then  cash  is  given 
the  credit,  and  whoever  gets  the  cash  is  debited. 

It  is  the  common  law  of  mathematics,  and  also  of 
nature.  Just  as  a  pendulum  swings  to  the  right,  it  must 
also  swing  to  the  left.  It  is  the  law  of  balances,  or  the 
positive  and  the  negative.  Each  must  be  used  in  the 
keeping  of  books. 

If  the  income  must  be  debited  with  whatever  is 
sold,  then  it  must  be  credited  with  the  cash  that  is 
received,  in  order  to  show  how  much  of  the  possible 
income  actually  becomes  money. 

It  became  very  hard  for  Jefferson  Bell  to  realize 
that  he  must  no  longer  put  the  money  he  received  for 
subscriptions,  or  anything  else,  into  his  pocket,  and 
promptly  forget  about  it,  except  to  spend  it.  This 
had  so  long  been  a  custom  with  him  that  it  took  extra 
strong  mental  power  to  get  over  the  habit  of  putting 
into  his  pocket  whatever  money  he  received  and  for- 
getting to  turn  it  over  to  Mamie  to  be  accounted  for. 

Smith  had  the  good  sense  to  remember  that  this 
had  been  Bell's  habit  for  many  years,  so  he  bore  with 


76  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

patience  the  many  slips  where  Bell  forgot  to  turn  in 
the  cash. 

Gradually  Bell  acquired  the  habit  of  turning  in 
cash  he  received  from  subscribers  whom  he  chanced  to 
meet  on  the  street,  and  who  wished  to  "pay  up  for  the 
paper."  Especially  did  this  impress  him  as  being  right 
when  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  in  November  Smith 
handed  him  $18.00  in  cash,  with  an  understanding  that 
thereafter  each  member  of  the  concern  would  have  his 
salary  paid  each  week — Bell  and  Smith  alike,  except 
Smith  would  take  fifty  cents  less  a  week. 

Nothing  could  have  impressed  Bell  more  than  this, 
as  he  had  never  taken  any  stated  sum  from  the  paper 
each  week,  and  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to 
really  say  how  much  money  he  had  ever  taken  from  the 
concern.  That  weekly  receipt  of  a  salary  from  the 
business  meant  more  to  him  than  Smith  realised. 
Other  things  done  to  put  the  place  on  a  business  basis 
were  more  or  less  irritating  to  Bell,  but  for  him  to 
know  that  each  week  he  would  receive  a  stated  sum 
was  truly  an  awakening  as  to  the  possibilities  of  run- 
ning a  paper  on  business  principles. 

That  night  when  he  went  home  and  took  the  $18.00 
and  handed  the  sum  to  Mrs.  Bell.  That  she  received 
the  money  in  surprise  may  be  putting  it  mildly,  and 
both  she  and  Bell  talked  that  night  for  several  hours 
about  the  change  in  affairs  in  the  running  of  the 
Banner,  and  about  John  Smith  in  particular. 

Next  morning  Bell  went  about  his  work  at  his  desk 
in  the  same  way  as  usual  except  that  he  would  glance 
frequently  at  Mamie's  desk,  and  once  or  twice  he  got 
up  and  walked  over  to  it.  To  one  who  was  watching 


* 


o 

z 


z 

D 
O 


M  a  •' 


3~ 


^ 
IPI 


a  !l^iw 
5H 


.     _S       .;  _ 


^ 


!3 


,^:-j 


n 


«S'^^ 


n  i 


&**. 


f*ai  •" 

r^: 


^ 


II 


•^i    *s    H 


CASH  79 

him  it  was  very  plain  that  curiosity  was  taking  hold 
of  Jefferson  Bell,  and  that  there  was  something  on  that 
desk  he  wanted  to  know  more  about. 

Finally,  just  before  noon,  he  went  over  to  Mamie 
and  asked  her  to  show  him  more  of  that  book  they 
were  keeping  the  accounts  in. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Bell/'  Mamie  exclaimed,  "we  don't  keep 
the  accounts  in  that  book.  It  is  simply  the  book  the 
daily  transactions  are  put  in,  and  then  afterwards 
they  go  into  other  books." 

"Well,  how  many  books  do  you  need?"  Bell  asked 
rather  impatiently.  "I  thought  that  this  book  was  all 
there  was  to  it." 

Mamie  glanced  at  John  Smith,  who  was  at  work 
filling  galleys  with  dead  matter  ready  for  distribution, 
and  having  received  a  nod  she  turned  to  Bell  and  start- 
ed to  explain  some  things  about  the  "Combination 
Journal,"  which  he  was  very  intently  examining. 

"You  will  remember,  Mr.  Bell,"  Mamie  said,  "that 
when  you  were  here  the  other  night  the  cashier  ex- 
plained about  putting  down  all  the  transactions  in 
this  book,  and  that  it  was  the  book  of  'original  entry/ 
as  he  called  it.  He  also  explained  about  the  various- 
items,  and  how  they  were  debited  to  the  'Income91 
column. 

"You  will  see  on  line  11  (Fig.  I)  that  the  dollar 
Haverlan  paid  on  subscription  has  been  debited  to 
'subscription,'  as  have  eight  other  items.  You  re- 
member that  Mrs.  Aldrich  did  not  pay  for  the  twelve 
copies  of  the  paper  she  wanted,  so  there  is  no  cask 
entry  for  that,  although  subscription  is  debited  (Fig. 
2) .  Notice  that  alongside  of  the  word  'Income'  there 


80  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

is  a  dividing  line,  and  that  'Cr.'  is  printed  in  the  next 
box  heading.  This  is  for  placing  the  amount  of  credits 
or  the  amounts  paid  that  have  been  debited  to  the 
various  items  under  'Income.'  By  adding  the  total  of 
the  various  items  of  'Income,'  and  taking  the  total  of 
the  'Cr.'  and  subtracting  that  amount  we  will  have  the 
balance  that  is  owing  us  from  everybody." 

Mamie  then  went  on  to  explain  that  "Debit"  rep- 
resented what  was  due  the  firm,  and  "Cr."  the  amount 
paid  the  firm.  Having  credited  "Income,"  it  was  neces- 
sary to  transfer  the  amount  to  something  else,  and  as 
it  was  cash,  then  "Cash"  was  debited  with  the  amount 
of  money  received. 

Line  No.  8  (see  Fig.  1)  showed  that  there  was 
$52.15  on  hand  the  first  of  November.  During  the 
week  enough  had  been  collected  so  that  the  total  debit 
column  on  the  second  page  (see  Fig.  2)  showed  a  total 
of  $61.35.  During  that  time  some  money  had  been 
spent,  and  "Cash"  had  been  credited  with  whatever 
had  been  spent,  so  that  the  balance  on  hand  at  that 
time  was  the  difference  between  $61.35  and  $57.31, 
or  $4.04.  That  was  the  total  wealth  of  the  concern  in 
cash  at  that  time. 

"Then  at  any  time  you  have  simply  to  take  one 
sum  from  the  other  and  the  cash  you  have  on  hand 
should  equal  the  difference.  Am  I  right?"  Bell  asked. 

Mamie  assured  him  that  he  was  right,  and  also  that 
they  not  only  would  know  exactly  how  much  business 
had  been  done  but  also  know  how  much  had  been  paid 
for,  where  the  cash  had  gone,  and  the  amount  of  cash 
on  hand. 


CASH  81 

It  was  all  very  simple.  The  job  work  or  advertising 
done  and  the  subscriptions  received  were  entered  in 
the  right  columns.  If  paid  for  at  the  time,  the  "In- 
come" was  credited  and  "Cash"  debited.  If  paid  for 
later,  the  same  thing  was  done.  Any  person  could 
readily  see  that  at  the  end  of  the  month  every  business 
transaction  would  be  shown,  and  also  how  much  of  it 
had  been  paid  for,  how  much  cash  had  been  spent, 
and  the  balance  of  cash  there  was  on  hand. 

"And  to  think,"  Bell  said  as  he  went  to  his  desk, 
"that  all  these  years  I  have  thought  bookkeeping  was 
so  complicated.  That  seems  simple  enough.'1 

"You  are  right,"  John  Smith  said,  stopping  his 
work  for  a  moment.  "There  is  nothing  so  wonderful 
about  bookkeeping,  only  the  trouble  has  been  that 
too  many  books  have  been  used  to  do  a  simple  thing." 

"Well,"  Mamie  put  in,  "just  what  I  explained 
Mr.  Bell  is  not  all  there  is  to  keeping  that  book,  I 
am  sure,  although  that  is  as  far  as  the  cashier  has 
shown  me.  How  about  the  rest  of  the  columns  in  these 
sheets?" 

"A  lot  of  things  have  got  to  happen  first  before  we 
think  about  using  them.  I'm  going  to  dinner." 

And  Mamie  and  Bell  followed  his  example. 


Credit 


VI 
CREDIT 

ASK  the  average  small  printer  or  the  country  news- 
paper publisher  who  represents  "capital"  to  him, 
or  perhaps  the  two  concerns  that  give  him  the  most 
worry,  and  he  will  promptly  name  the  bank  and  the 
wholesale  paper  house.  Most  printers  are  in  debt  to 
either  of  these,  or  both.  The  paying  of  the  help  each 
week  and  keeping  the  bank  account  in  the  clear,  and 
paying  the  paper  house  or  supply  house  each  month, 
are  the  big  business  events,  with  which  they  have  to 
contend. 

The  banker — at  least  we  may  have  the  supposi- 
tion— does  not  look  with  much  favor  upon  the  average 
printer's  account.  So  far  as  the  writer  is  concerned, 
he  knows  that  the  bankers  never  invited  his  account; 
in  fact,  they  called  him  to  account  many  times  over 
the  account  being  in  red. 

The  paper  houses  and  typefoundries  all  had  a  habit 
of  sending  statements  each  month,  and  also  gentle 
reminders  time  and  time  again  that  certain  payments 
would  be  appreciated.  The  gentle  art  of  writing  a 
good  stand-off  letter  had  to  be  highly  developed — and 
I  will  gamble  almost  anything  that  printers  have  it 
learned  better  than  any  other  class.  The  art  of  totally 

85 


86  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

ignoring  requests  for  payment,  of  knowing  which 
letters  are  advertisements,  which  are  requests  for 
money,  and  which  contain  money,  also  had  to  be  de- 
veloped. It  is  a  sad,  sad  world  when  other  people  so 
persist  in  wanting  money  in  a  big  hurry,  and  then 
refuse  to  ship  more  goods  unless  the  money  for  the 
goods  you  have  used  is  paid.  No  other  grief  can 
quite  compare,  and  I  know  all  about  it.  I  have  some- 
times thought  that  the  printers  and  publishers  who  were 
C.  0.  D.  customers  were  almost  to  be  envied.  They 
might  have  trouble  in  digging  up  the  money  to  pay 
the  drafts  or  the  expressman,  but  they  did  not  receive 
requests  to  remit — to  put  it  gently — nor  have  worries 
over  the  10th  of  the  month  coming  around,  and  having 
to  hustle  money  to  pay  all  those  confounded  accounts. 
Jefferson  Bell  had  been  one  of  those  printers  who 
paid  only  when  they  got  the  goods.  In  times  past 
he  had  been  quite  careless  in  sending  money  to  pay  for 
goods  he  had  ordered.  Checks  he  had  sent  to  pay 
accounts,  with  all  good  intentions  on  his  part,  had 
been  sent  back  by  the  unfeeling  bank  marked  "insf" — 
which  means  "Insufficient  funds."  Once  or  twice  he 
had  to  dig  up  $3.75  extra,  when  the  bank  had  delib- 
erately protested  checks  and  sent  them  back  to  the 
ready  print  house.  This  caused  a  severance  of  diplo- 
matic relations  between  Jefferson  Bell,  the  cashier  of 
the  bank,  and  the  ready  print  house.  It  was  the  straw 
that  set  the  whole  business  world  of  Jefferson  Bell  on 
fire,  and  when  the  flames  following  the  explosion  had 
cooled  down,  the  bank  no  longer  carried  the  name  of 
the  Bladon  Banner  on  its  books,  and  the  ready 
prints  came  C.  O.  D.  each  week.  That  was  several 


CREDIT  87 

years  ago,  and  up  to  the  time  that  John  Smith  pur- 
chased a  half  interest  in  the  Banner,  thus  avoiding 
a  great  distress  that  was  impending,  there  was  no  bank 
account,  and  goods  continued  to  come  into  the  office 
bearing  the  C.  0.  D.  stamp. 

The  first  week  after  John  Smith  entered  the  door- 
way of  the  Banner  office,  some  few  years  before  our 
story  commenced,  he  entered  the  door  of  the  Citizens 
State  Bank  of  Bladon,  and  made  a  deposit.  The  cash- 
ier looked  at  him  in  curiosity,  but  took  the  money, 
made  out  a  pass  book,  took  John's  signature,  and 
handed  him  a  check  book.  He  did  not  do  this  with  any 
degree  of  pleasure,  however,  but  rather  with  the  feeling 
that  here  was  more  trouble  and  that  another  account 
had  been  entered  which  would  have  to  be  watched 
very  closely  for  overdrafts.  Imagine  his  surprise  when 
he  found  that  the  pass  book  was  balanced  each  month, 
that  the  account  was  growing  a  little,  and  that  the 
total  of  deposits  were  always  larger  than  the  amount 
of  checks  drawn. 

The  amount  soon  reached  a  fairly  good  size,  and 
then  when  the  cashier  had  a  chance  to  make  a  real 
estate  turn,  but  lacked  enough  of  his  own  money,  he 
thought  of  John  Smith  and  talked  the  matter  over  with 
him,  with  the  result  that  the  account  grew  a  little 
larger.  Several  times  this  sort  of  thing  was  enacted — 
and  once  with  a  loss.  But  John  never  grumbled,  and 
the  cashier's  confidence  in  him  increased.  A  big  deal 
came  up,  and  the  cashier  wanted  John  to  quit  the 
printing  business  and  enter  into  it.  John  refused, 
much  to  the  cashier's  surprise. 


88  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"I'm  with  you  in  anything  worth  while,"  John  had 
explained,  "but  I  can't  leave  the  old  print  shop.  I 
am  like  thousands  of  others — just  printers.  We  love 
the  business,  there  is  something  in  the  smell  of  print- 
er's ink,  the  feel  of  the  type,  and  the  jangle  of  the 
presses  that  has  become  a  great  part  of  us — and  that's 
what  makes  us  just  printers." 

Had  Jefferson  Bell  as  much  as  imagined  what  was 
going  on,  he  would  have  certainly  been  a  much  more 
surprised  man.  Up  to  the  time  of  John's  becoming  a 
partner,  he  had  looked  upon  him  as  merely  a  type- 
setter, and  nothing  more.  Of  John's  past  history  be- 
fore coming  to  Bladon  he  knew  nothing,  and  took 
him  as  just  one  of  the  wandering  printers  intent  upon 
getting  a  job,  who  would  in  a  few  months  leave  for 
other  fields. 

It  is  not  surprising,  in  the  light  of  what  has  been 
written  of  John  Smith,  that  having  no  bank  account 
and  the  ready  prints  and  paper  coming  C.  0-  D.  was 
not  to  his  liking.  Every  other  merchant  in  Bladon, 
with  possibly  only  one  exception,  received  goods  with- 
out paying  for  them  in  advance.  They  all  had  bank 
accounts,  and  John  also  knew  that  some  of  them 
carried  good  healthy  balances.  That  the  Banner  was 
not  among  the  number  hurt  him,  and  he  determined 
that  it  must  soon  be  remedied. 

Jefferson  Bell  paid  little  attention  to  what  was 
going  on  in  the  back  room  except  on  days  when  the 
paper  went  to  press  and  it  became  necessary  to  help 
get  the  paper  out.  He  had  found  John  fully  capable 
of  taking  care  of  that  end  of  the  business,  and  as  the 
duties  of  editorship  rested  heavily  on  him,  Bell  was 


CREDIT  89 

very  content  to  forget  the  mechanical  end  of  the 
business.  Very  rarely  did  he  go  down  to  the  office 
after  supper.  He  had  a  fairly  good  library,  and  took 
some  exchanges  home  with  him,  thus  managing  to 
find  plenty  to  do  at  home  to  keep  him  busy.  Also, 
the  principal  of  the  schools  and  the  two  or  three  min- 
isters of  the  the  town  found  an  agreeable  place  to 
meet  and  talk  at  his  home — and  Mrs.  Bell  had  a  very 
excellent  habit  of  serving  delicious  coffee  and  lemon 
pie  along  about  9:30,  just  before  they  had  to  go  home. 
Much  has  been  written  about  the  village  grocery  as 
the  center  of  gossip  and  politics — but  some  day  some 
one  will  write  and  give  to  the  world  the  credit  due 
the  home  of  the  country  editor,  to  the  men  who  have 
gathered  there  to  discuss  world  and  national  events, 
and  to  the  editor's  wife  for  providing  such  a  delightful 
place  to  gather  in. 

On  a  few  occasions  Bell  would  wander  down  the 
street  in  the  evening,  and  at  such  times  would  enter  the 
printing  office,  and  perhaps  sit  in  his  chair,  smoke  a 
cigar,  and  think  of  some  of  the  things  he  wrote  for 
the  paper.  He  did  not  know  why  he  went  out  that 
November  evening,  but  it  just  seemed  like  fate.  Any- 
way, he  wandered  down  the  street,  unlocked  the  door 
of  the  office,  and  entered.  He  started  to  light  a  cigar, 
but  finding  he  did  not  have  any  matches  he  went  out 
to  where  Smith  kept  a  supply.  On  his  way  back  to 
the  front  office  he  happened  to  notice  some  work  neatly 
piled  up  on  one  of  the  tables,  and,  curiosity  getting 
the  better  of  him,  he  picked  up  one  of  the  sheets. 

Surprise  would  be  a  mild  term  to  use  in  recording 
what  happened  to  Bell  right  at  that  moment!  The 


90  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

job  was  evidently  for  the  Citizens  State  Bank,  and  was 
in  the  nature  of  a  check,  but  up  in  the  corner  was  this 
card:  "The  Bladon  Banner,  Bell  &  Smith,  Props.  Job 
printing  neatly  executed.  The  Banner — Essex  County's 
leading  paper."  There  was  but  one  meaning  to  all 
this — Smith  was  going  to  start  a  bank  account! 

Bell  was  a  good  sleeper,  but  for  the  first  time  in 
many  years  Mrs.  Bell  noted  that  he  rolled  and  tossed 
and  seemed  to  sleep  but  little  that  night,  and  the  next 
morning  started  out  to  the  shop  more  quickly  than 
usual,  seemingly  in  a  determined  frame  of  mind.  Mrs. 
Bell  was  slightly  worried,  but  felt  that  it  might  be  only 
some  little  thing  that  had  gone  wrong  at  the  office,  or 
something  connected  with  county  politics  that  was  dis- 
turbing the  otherwise  imperturbable  serenity  of  Bell. 

Upon  reaching  the  office  Bell  at  once  went  to  the 
back  part  of  the  shop,  but  Smith  was  not  there.  Bell 
then  went  to  his  desk,  grabbed  an  exchange  and  looked 
at  it.  He  watched  the  door  with  a  corner  of  one  eye, 
-  and  several  times  looked  at  his  watch.  To  add  to  all 
his  other  worries,  Smith  was  late !  Not  in  all  the  years 
Smith  had  been  in  his  employ  had  he  ever  failed  to 
come  to  work  on  time.  In  fact,  Bell  did  not  know 
just  when  Smith  really  started  to  work  in  the  morning, 
as  he  was  always  on  the  job  when  Bell  came  down, 
early  or  late.  But  this  morning,  of  all  mornings,  Smith 
was  late!  Nine  o'clock  came,  then  nine  thirty,  then 
ten,  and  no  Smith.  Bell's  seeming  agitation  drew 
Mamie's  attention  to  him. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Bell,"  Mamie  said,  "I  forgot  to  tell  you 
that  Mr.  Smith  went  to  Columbus  last  night.  He  told 


CREDIT  91 

me  to  tell  you  the  first  thing  this  morning,  and  here  I 
forgot." 

"Humph,"  Bell  grunted,  "what's  the  occasion?" 

"I  don't  know,"  Mamie  replied,  "but  he  told  me 
to  tell  you  he  would  be  back  tomorrow." 

Could  anything  be  more  distressing?  The  dis- 
covery of  the  bank  checks,  and  now  Smith  had  gone  to 
Columbus.  It  seemed  that  the  day  would  never  end. 
Mrs.  Bell  was  certainly  worried  by  the  next  morning, 
but  to  her  questions  Bell  would  give  no  definite  replies, 
and  being  a  wise  wife  of  a  country  editor,  she  held 
her  peace,  knowing  full  well  that  the  steam  would 
escape  in  time  and  she  would  know  all. 

When  Bell  arrived  at  the  office  the  next  morning 
Smith  was  whistling  his  usual  air  just  as  though  noth- 
ing in  the  world  had  happened,  and  he  was  at  peace 
with  everybody,  and  the  world  was  all  right.  Bell 
sat  down  to  his  desk,  and  saw  in  front  of  him  the 
checks  he  had  previously  discovered,  but  instead  of 
being  loose  they  were  neatly  bound. 

"Mr.  Smith,  may  I  have  a  moment  of  your  time?" 
Bell  inquired  in  a  tone  of  voice  only  heard  on  rare 
occasions. 

The  whistling  ceased,  for  when  Bell  spoke  in  that 
way  and  in  the  tone  of  voice  he  was  using,  Smith 
knew  that  there  was  trouble  brewing.  But,  this  time 
Smith's  face  wore  a  smile. 

"Certainly,"  he  said  as  he  came  over,  and  without 
waiting  for  Bell  to  say  anything,  added,  "I  guess  you 
want  to  see  me  about  those  checks.  Well,  I  am  now 
ready  to  tell  you  why,  and  a  few  other  things,  if  you 
want  to  hear  them." 


92  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"I  most  certainly  do,"  Bell  replied. 

The  substance  of  what  Smith  said  was  to  the  effect 
that  he  believed  in  credit.  The  Banner  gave  credit, 
and  was  entitled  to  credit.  The  basis  of  all  credit 
was  faith  and  honest  business  methods,  and  the  first 
faith  of  right  business  must  be  put  in  some  institution 
where  money  might  be  left  until  needed.  That  in- 
stitution must  be  conducted  on  the  faith  that  those 
who  left  their  money  on  deposit  would  not  abuse  the 
privilege  or  draw  more  money  than  was  on  deposit. 
The  leaving  of  a  balance  always  on  hand  made  it 
possible  for  them  to  have  a  surplus,  and  this  they  could 
loan  out  on  faith  to  whoever  might  need  the  tempor- 
ary accommodation,  and  would  return  the  money  in 
due  time  and  be  glad  to  pay  for  the  use  of  it.  There- 
fore he  believed  in  every  business  concern  having  a 
bank  account  and  never  abusing  the  faith  of  the  banker. 

He  further  believed  that  as  they  sold  goods  to  be 
paid  for  in  the  near  future,  the  firm  of  Bell  &  Smith 
was  entitled  to  the  same  consideration,  and  his  little 
trip  to  Columbus  was  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the 
matter  right  up  to  the  ready  print  concern  and  to  the 
wholesale  paper  company,  and  instead  of  having  their 
goods  come  C.  0.  D.,  to  have  them  come  on  regular 
dating,  and  with  the  usual  discount  privileges.  It  had 
been  no  easy  task  to  get  these  firms  to  see  the  light, 
but  finally  they  had  consented  and  arrangements  were 
made  whereby  the  ready  prints  would  be  sent  for 
thirty  days  on  regular  terms,  and  the  paper  house 
would  give  up  to  $50  credit,  but  all  bills  must  be  paid 
promptly. 


CREDIT  93 

Smith  then  went  over  to  Mamie's  desk,  and  brought 
the  book  which  Bell  had  examined  on  previous  oc- 
casions. A  new  page  had  been  started,  and  under  the 
headings  of  "Cash,"  "Bank,"  and  "Accts.  Payable," 
there  were  a  number  of  entries. 

"We  have  been  debiting  'Cash'  with  the  amounts 
received,  and  crediting  it  with  cash  paid  out.  We  have 
now  come  to  the  point  where  we  can  use  a  'Bank' 
column,  and  when  a  deposit  is  made  we  will  credit 
cash  and,  debit  bank.  Notice  on  line  56  that  'cash' 
has  been  credited  with  $77.36,  and  'Bank'  debited  with 
that  amount.  Now  we  are  ready  to  use  checks  to  pay 
ourselves  and  our  bills,  and  the  rest  of  the  entries 
are  for  checks,  which  you  and  I  will  have  to  sign,  and 
then  the  records  made  here  will  be  complete. 

"The  debit  side  of  the  'Bank'  column  will  show  the 
deposits  and  the  credit  side  will  show  the  checks.  The 
difference  between  these  will  show  the  amount  of 
money  in  the  bank.  There  is  no  need  of  overdrawing, 
as  we  will  always  know  how  much  money  we  have  in 
the  bank.  I  will  not  sign  a  check  unless  we  have  the 
money  on  hand. 

"The  'Accts.  Payable*  column  is  to  keep  track  of 
our  purchases,  and  the  book  shows  on  line  63  that 
we  have  bought  some  paper  from  the  Central  Paper 
Company,  and  'Accts.  Payable/  has  been  credited  with 
the  amount.  On  line  70  a  check  is  recorded,  showing 
the  amount  to  be  less  than  the  bill,  as  we  have  taken  the 
cash  discount.  The  full  amount  of  the  bills  or  in- 
voice is  debited  to  'Accts.  Payable,'  and  by  carrying  out 
such  transactions  for  a  month  we  will  know  exactly 


z 

D 


< 


t> 
O 

l-» 


I 

fc 


g 


^J 

! 


V3€ 


5( 


o: 


W^ 


s 


CREDIT  95 

how  much  we  have  bought,  how  much  we  have  paid 
for,  and  how  much  money  we  have  in  the  bank. 

"Instead  of  guessing  at  what  we  are  doing,  this 
will  tell  just  what  we  are  doing.  And  that  is  some- 
thing I  believe  in.  What  do  you  think  of  it?" 

"In  consideration  of  the  possible  feelings  of  Mamie, 
I  will  not  express  my  feelings,"  Bell  blurted  out,  "but 
may  I  inquire  how  much  more  damphool  bookkeeping 
and  other  stunts  you  are  going  to  pull  off?" 

"Just  as  many  more  as  will  put  this  place  on  a 
right  business  basis  and  make  us  able  to  answer  in- 
telligently questions  asked  by  those  from  whom  we 
buy,  get  us  rated  in  Dun's,  Bradstreet's,  and  another 
book  they  call  Typo  or  something,  and  enable  us  to 
know  whether  we  really  are  making  any  money  or  not/' 

"Perhaps,"  Bell  sarcastically  said,  "you  will  also 
have  time  for  other  work  besides  this!" 

"Mr.  Bell,"  Smith  said  with  determination,  "you 
have  not  been  asked  to  do  one  thing  more  than  before, 
and  you  get  your  salary  every  week.  You  will  not 
be  asked  to  do  any  of  this  work,  which  really  amounts 
to  but  a  few  minutes  each  day.  The  only  thing  you 
will  probably  be  asked  to  do  is  to  share  some  of  the 
profits  that  will  come  from  this  concern,  because  I 
am  out  to  make  some  money.  Otherwise  you  need 
not  trouble  yourself." 

Could  it  be  possible  John  Smith  meant  it?  Could 
it  be  possible  John  Smith  was  really  angry? 

Mamie  industriously  set  type,  while  Bell  gaped  at 
Smith  with  astonishment  and  did  not  recover  himself 
until  Smith  had  gone  back  to  one  of  the  platen  presses 
and  begun  to  wash  the  ink  plate. 


96  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Bell  turned  and  looked  at  Mamie  and  Mamie  look- 
ed at  him,  then  grabbing  his  pen  he  began  to  write 
and  editorial.  And  thus  ended  the  first  near-quarrel  in 
the  firm  of  Bell  and  Smith. 


Merchandise 


VII 
MERCHANDISE 

IF  YOU  remember,  the  division  between  the  "back 
room"  and  the  front  office  of  the  Bladon  Banner,  as 
shown  in  the  diagram  of  the  new  arrangement  of  the 
plant  John  Smith  made  when  he  had  the  opportunity, 
consisted  of  shelves  on  which  the  paper  carried  in 
stock  could  be  piled.  Doors  had  been  placed  in  front 
of  the  shelves  to  protect  the  paper,  and  as  we  know  that 
John  Smith  was  an  orderly  soul,  it  can  be  taken  for 
granted  that  the  paper  was  neatly  piled  and  arranged, 
with  the  ruled)  goods  in  one  end  and  the  reams  of 
flat  stock  and  bonds  at  the  other,  and  cardboards,  cut 
cards  and  other  items  in  between.  Even  the  inevitable 
"scraps"  were  arranged  in  piles  and  in  some  instances 
in  bundles  with  string  around  them,  and  the  size  and 
quantity  plainly  marked.  In  the  shop  of  the  Bladon 
Banner  the  method  of  keeping  and  handling  paper 
was  an  exception  to  the  general  practice.  Such  a 
method  is  seldom  employed  today. 

It  is  a  poor  storekeeper,  indeed,  who  does  not 
keep  his  stock  of  merchandise  or  wares  in  some  order- 
ly arrangement  and  pay  some  attention  to  its  care. 
He  knows  full  well  that  he  must  sell  this  merchandise 
at  something  over  what  it  costs  him,  and  to  do  so  it 

99 


100  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

must  be  kept  in  reasonable  selling  condition.  If  dirty, 
soiled,  torn  or  damaged,  he  will  be  mighty  lucky 
to  get  enough  to  cover  the  bare  cost  of  the  article  to 
him.  He  ig  merchandising  and  selling  merchandise 
the  people  want  and  in  the  shape  they  want  it. 

The  printer,  on  the  other  hand,  learns  that  he 
must  distribute  type  in  the  proper  boxes,  secure  the 
proper  impression  on  his  press,  and  a  thousand  other 
things  that  must  be  properly  executed.  He  learns  his 
"trade"  as  far  'as  the  mechanical  part  is  concerned, 
but  neglects  to  take  into  consideration  that  possibly 
he  is  also  somewhat  of  a  merchant  as  well. 

He  is  too  intent  upon  the  niceties  of  the  mere  print- 
ing of  the  paper  and  the  delivery  of  the  "job"  and 
forgets  that  the  paper  he  uses  is  the  "merchandise" 
*end  of  his  business. 

Not  only  does  that  pertain  to  the  actual  care  of  the 
paper,  but  also  in  the  matter  of  figuring  selling  prices. 

At  the  time  of  this  story,  not  much  had  appeared 
in  trade  papers,  nor  had  many  speakers  orated  about 
profits.  It  was  something  almost  unheard  of  in  the 
printing  and  publishing  business.  To  illustrate  the 
actual  conditions  then — and  perhaps  to  considerable 
•  extent  at  this  time — a  printer,  upon  being  told  some- 
tihing  about  profits  and  costs,  was  very  much  impressed. 

"Do  you  know,"  this  printer  said,  "I  have  always 
thought  that  if  the  paper  in  a  job  cost  me  $1.25  and 
I  sold  the  job  for  $4,  I  was  $2.75  ahead?" 

That  it  cost  anything  to  handle  stock  that  a  profit 
on  it  should  be  made,  as  well  as  the  charge  for  the 
actual  work,  was  something  quite  unthought  of — and 
is  even  now  with  many  printers.  In  thousands  of 


MERCHANDISE  101' 

cases  printers  have  delivered  jobs  with  hours  of  labor 
on  the  work,  in  addition  to  the  paper,  and  have  charged 
for  the  total  just  about  what  the  average  merchant 
would  have  charged  for  the  paper,  on  the  basis  of  what 
it  had  cost  him,  without  a  minute's  work.  In  many 
lines  the  selling  price  of  merchandise  is  just  double 
that  of  its  actual  cost! 

This  matter  of  paper  being  merchandise,  and  not 
just  something  to  kick  around  the  office  until  printed, 
had  been  the  subject  of  many  talks  between  John  Smith 
and  the  cashier.  The  cashier  would  give  lengthy 
arguments  about  the  matter,  and  figure  that  of  course 
the  paper  should,  be  handled  as  merchandise  the  same 
as  in  other  lines. 

As  a  result  of  all  these  talks,  when  it  came  to  de- 
vising the  bookkeeping  system  Smith  intended  to  use, 
he  decided  to  have  some  method  of  keeping  track  of 
the  amount  of  merchandise  that  was  bought  and  the 
amount  used. 

In  thinking  the  matter  over,  and  also  talking  it 
over  with  the  cashier  one  evening,  it  was  decided  that 
the  "merchandise"  in  the  printing  office  consisted  not 
only  of  the  paper  stock,  but  the  ink  and  plates  used 
in  the  paper  from  time  to  time.  They  were  what  the 
cashier  called  "quick  assets,"  because  they  represented 
cash,  or  things  that  could  possibly  be  turned  into 
cash. 

Smith  argued  for  some  time  about  the  matter  of 
ink,  but  finally  conceded  that  various  amounts  of  inks 
were  used  on  various  jobs,  and  that  the  ink  should  be 
used  as  an  item  of  merchandise. 


No. 
Line 

''<'',<        '    r 

Date 

No. 

Description 

In- 

come 

Merchandise 

Dr. 

Cr. 

6 

13 

14 
16 

19 
20 
22 
23 
25 

Nov.    1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

21 

22 
24 

25 
26 
27 
28 

Job    Stock,   Ink   and 
Plate    Inventory    

$10.50 
2.75 

16.00 
3.25 
2.75 
1.15 
6.00 

$  64.65 
6.84 

$  3.00 
.60 

2.45 
.35 
.60 
.10 
.50 

Peoples  Dept.  Store, 
5m  Statements 

Citizens   Bank,   500   Notes.... 
Ohio   Real   Estate   Co., 
500   Folders   

Ohio   Real   Estate   Co., 
200    Contracts 

Farmers   Hrdw.    Co., 
500   Statements 

Ladies  Aid  Society 
250    Dodgers    

0.   A.    Mickelson,    100 
Auction    Bills 

American  Exp.  Co. 
Ready    Prints    

$  71.49 

$  7.60 

I     I 


26 

27 
45 

46 

47 

Nov.    6 

23 

Banner,    1320    Copies    

$  0.20 

$    8.23 

.74 

$  6.84 
.75 

.15 

Banner,    3    Cols.    Plates    .... 
Lucy  Gilham,  4  sheets 
Cardboard    

Central   Ohio  Paper   Co., 
Invoice 

Pennsylvania    R.    R., 
Freight  and  Dray  

$  80.46|$15.34 

Page  3 

63 
64 
65 
69 

Nov.  17 
18 

4 
5 

Central  Ohio  Paper  Co., 
Invoice        

$  37.65 
5.78 
1.10 
3.85 

Western    Paper    Asso., 
Ready  Prints 

American  Express  Co., 
Express 

John  Clark,  Drayage 
and    Freight    

l$128.84|$15.34 

Items  in  the  Combination  Cash  Journal  showing  methods  of 
handling  merchandise.  The  above  table  should  be  compared  with 
.the  reproductions  shown  on  preceding  pages. 


MERCHANDISE  103 

Having  settled  the  matter  of  obtaining  credit  from 
the  wholesale  paper  house,  and  a  stock  of  paper  in- 
stalled, Mamie  was  duly  instructed  how  to  use  the 
"Merchandise"  account  portion  of  the  cash- journal 
book. 

Immediately  after  the  "Accts.  Payable"  columns, 
there  was  a  "Merchandise"  column  with  debits  and 
credits  like  the  rest  of  the  columns  in  the  book. 

The  entries  for  the  various  jobs  of  printing  were 
carefully  gone  over,  but  first  the  result  of  the  inven- 
tory of  the  paper  stock  was  written  in  the  "debit" 
column  of  the  "Merchandise"  account. 

"This  item,"  the  cashier  explained  to  Mamie, 
"shows  that  the  'Merchandise'  account  owes  the  firm 
$64.65  in  either  paper  stock,  ink  or  plates. 

"On  line  13  we  have  charged  the  People's  Depart- 
ment Store  with  5,000  statements  amounting  to  $10.50. 
Of  this  amount  John  tells  me  that  the  stock  and  ink  'are 
worth  $3.00.  As  this  amount  of  our  inventoried  stock 
has  been  used,  we  will  credit  the  'Merchandise*  account 
with  $3.00.  We  can  go  right  on  with  the  other  jobs 
in  just  the  same  way,  crediting  the  'Merchandise'  ac- 
count with  the  stock  and  ink  used  on  each  job. 

"That  item  on  line  25  for  the  ready  prints  wants 
to  be  debited  to  'Merchandise,'  'and  then  on  the  next 
page  on  line  26  'Merchandise'  wants  to  be  credited 
with  the  same  amount  as  the  ready  prints  which  were 
used  in  printing  the  Banner.  Also  on  line  27  is  indi- 
cated that  three  columns  of  plates  were  used,  and 
'Merchandise'  should  be  credited  with  75  cents,  as  we 
have  inventoried  all  the  plate  on  hand  at  that  price. 


104  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"The  totals  on  page  1  show  that  we  have  debited 
'Merchandise'  with  $71.49,  and  credited  'Merchandise' 
with  $7.60,  which  represents  the  amount  of  merchan- 
dise on  hand.  These  amounts  we  carry  forward  to 
the  next  page. 

"On  line  45  it  says  that  Lucy  Gilham  bought  four 
sheets  of  cardboard. 

"Say,  Mamie,  I  wonder  what  Lucy  does  with  all 
that  cardboard  she  buys  of  John.  I  never  see  it  up 
at  the  house.  Can  you  tell  me?" 

Mamie  shook  her  head,  but  her  smile  seemed  to 
make  the  cashier  understand  the  situation,  so  he  went 
on  with  the  explanation,  despite  the  fact  that  he  could 
not  comprehend  just  why  his  sister  wanted  four  sheets 
of  cardboard. 

"Well,  as  Lucy  bought  the  cardboard,  and  it  is 
here  recorded,  we  will  figure  the  cost  of  the  stock  as 
15  cents  and  credit  'Merchandise,'  although  I  think 
John  should  be  given  the  credit  for  the  sale.  All  sales 
of  cardboard  or  paper,  even  though  not  used  in  a  job, 
should  be  recorded  in  just  the  same  manner,  and  John, 
we  may  be  sure,  will  record  the  transaction,  you  can 
bet  on  that,  even  though  it  shows  up  against  him  and 
Lucy. 

"On  lines  46  and  47  are  entered  the  facts  that  John 
dug  up  $8.23  and  also  74  cents  freight  and  took  out 
that  C.  O.  D.  shipment  of  paper,  and  as  that  has  been 
done,  we  debit  'Merchandise'  with  the  amounts." 

"But,  Mr.  Gilham,"  Mamie  exclaimed,  "the  74 
cents  is  for  freight,  not  paper!" 

"You  are  right,"  the  cashier  explained,  "but  it  is 
for  the  paper  and  therefore  adds  to  the  cost  of  the 
paper,  and  should  be  debited  to  'Merchandise'." 


MERCHANDISE  105 

"Then,  when  we  figure  the  cost  of  paper  on  a  job, 
in  order  to  give  the  'Merchandise'  account  proper  cre- 
dit, we  must  not  only  figure  the  ink,  but  the  freight 
on  the  paper  as  well." 

"Yes,  you  are  right,  and  if  you  do  not  do  this  you 
will  find  in  a  short  time  that  the  'Merchandise'  account 
will  show  a  lot  of  merchandise  on  hand,  when  actually 
there  is  not  a  sheet  of  paper." 

"I  don't  think  Mr.  Bell  ever  thought  of  that  in  mak- 
ing prices." 

"Mr.  Bell  is  a  great  thinker,"  the  cashier  an- 
swered, "but  not  about  business." 

As  is  usual  when  two  persons  get  to  talking  of 
something,  and  by  chance  the  conversation  takes  a 
turn,  the  new  topic  becomes  absorbing,  and  so  it  was 
with  the  subject  of  Jefferson  Bell.  These  two  knew 
him,  his  faults  and  his  virtues,  and  should  'any  one 
else  have  assailed  him  they  would  have  been  the  first 
to  hotly  defend  him,  but  as  they  went  into  the  keeping 
of  books  for  the  little  print  shop  of  the  Bladon  Banner, 
they  could  not  help  talking  of  the  lack  of  business 
methods  in  the  past  conduct  of  the  business. 

And  then  came  the  following  comparison  between 
the  partners,  Bell  and  Smith. 

"Those  two  make  an  ideal  pair,  to  my  mind,"  the 
cashier  said.  "Bell  is  a  thinker,  a  dreamer,  but  a 
mighty  shrewd  politician  at  that.  But  he  is  honest, 
he  would  not  do  a  dishonest  thing  and  can't  see  where 
the  politicians  of  the  country  are  using  him." 

"Yes,  they  are  an  ideal  pair  all  right,"  Mamie 
agreed,  "and  John  Smith  is  honest,  too,  but  out  for 


106  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

his  rights.  We  can  talk  about  his  keeping  track  of 
every  cent,  but  he  is  not  stingy." 

"I  know  that,"  the  cashier  replied,  "and  he  might 
keep  track  of  the  amount  of  candy  and  cigars  he  gives 
Lucy  and  me,  but  I  will  say  they  are  good." 

Mamie  laughed  at  this,  and  then,  seeing  Smith 
coming  down  the  street  with  Jefferson  Bell,  they  went 
on  with  the  real  matter  at  hand. 

"The  third  page,  on  lines  63,  64,  65  and  69  are  but 
repetitions  of  lines  46  and  47  on  page  two,"  the  cashier 
started  to  explain,  "and  the  totals  of  page  three  show 
a  debit  of  $128.84  and  a  credit  of  $15.34,  or  a  differ- 
ence of  $113.50,  which  represents  the  amount  of  paper 
stock,  ink  and  plates  that  should  be  on  hand." 

"Isn't  that  great,"  Mamie  said.  "We  can  always 
tell  just  how  much  paper  we  have,  how  much  money 
in  the  bank,  how  much  we  owe,  and  how  much  job 
printing  and  advertising  we  are  doing,  and  also  how 
much  money  we  are  taking  in  on  subscriptions.  And 
it  is  so  easy  to  keep  track  of  them,  too.  To  think 
this  has  never  been  done  before." 

"Well,"  Jefferson  Bell  said,  as  he  entered  the  door, 
"have  you  two  got  everything  down  pat  now?  It  looks 
to  me  as  though  the  firm  of  Bell  &  Smith  were  going 
to  be  bookkeeped  right,  and  have  the  greatest  and 
most  up-to-date  system  of  higher  accounting  in  the 
world." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  about  that,"  the  cashier  said, 
"but  Mamie  here  is  an  apt  scholar  all  right,  and  with 
John's  desire  to  know  what  the  concern  is  doing,  I 
guess  you  will  have  a  fairly  good  set  of  books." 


MERCHANDISE  107 

"To  say  nothing,"  Smith  added,  "of  the  wonderful 
instruction  Mamie  is  receiving.  We  are  certainly  in- 
debted to  you  for  the  interest  you  are  showing." 

Smith  wondered  why  Bell  trod  on  his  toe  that 
moment,  but  said  nothing — just  wondered. 

The  cashier  suddenly  had  other  business,  Mamie 
went  to  work  >at  the  case  setting  type,  and  Bell  and 
Smith  sat  down  in  the  front  office. 

"I  agree  with  all  you  say,"  Smith  said,  "but  just 
the  same  it  costs  money  to  run  this  paper,  and  I  see 
no  reason  why  we  should  boost  all  those  politicians 
for  office.  I  have  set  columns  of  it — hundreds  of 
them — and  if  you  have  ever  been  thanked  for  what  you 
have  done  for  them,  I  never  heard  of  it." 

"One  must  do  something  for  the  party,"  Bell  an- 
swered, "and  in  the  interest  of  good  government.  Can 
you  ignore  that?  I  have  stood  for  your  bookkeeping, 
your  systems,  and  the  hiring  of  Mamie,  and  all  the 
other  new  fangled  things  you  have  done,  but  we  might 
just  as  well  understand  each  other — 1  am  the  editor." 
"All  right,"  Smith  said,  "I  don't  want  to  interfere 
with  what  you  do  as  editor,  or  anything  like  that. 
That  is  your  business  and  you  can  boost  those  fellows 
to  the  sky,  but  I  always  figure  that  when  I  work  I 
want  some  pay,  especially  if  the  other  fellow  gets  some 
benefits  from  my  labors." 

"That  is  a  sordid  view  of  the  matter,  and  I  am 
glad  that  I  do  not  feel  'about  this  matter  as  you  do. 
Where  would  the  country  be  if  every  newspaper  would 
do  as  you  say,  and  commence  charging  candidates  for 
'advertising,'  as  you  put  it?" 


108  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  the  country,"  Smith 
put  in,  "but  I  do  know  that  country  newspapers  would 
be  a  darn  sight  better  off,  and  if  they  quit  printing 
nine-tenths  of  this  political  stuff  I  think  the  readers 
would  be  better  off,  to  say  nothing  of  being  greatly 
relieved." 

Bell  shook  his  head,  and  taking  his  pen  began  to 
write  an  editorial  commenting  upon  the  high  qualities 
of  the  candidates  of  his  party  for  county  offices. 

Smith  went  over  to  the  paper  shelves  and  com- 
menced to  count  out  some  bond  paper  he  intended  to 
use  on  a  job  of  printing  for  the  Citizens  Bank. 


Accounts 


VIII 
ACCOUNTS 

JEFFERSON  BELL  was  a  great  power  in  his  county, 
probably  more  so  than  he  realized,  but  he  never 
tried  to  profit  from  that  power.  He  seemed  content 
to  sit  in  the  background,  in  a  way,  and  through  the 
Banner  have  his  say  upon  important  political  events. 
He  would  say  what  he  thought  with  no  regard  for  the 
financial  consequences,  yet  remain  loyal  to  his  party 
in  the  end,  and  this  made  him  an  important  factor,  one 
to  be  taken  into  account.  And  what  was  true  of  him 
is  true  of  thousands  of  other  country  editors  to  whom 
personal  benefit  is  the  last  thing  to  be  thought  of,  or 
was  ten  or  more  years  ago.  So  on  the  night  that  a 
number  of  party  leaders  were  in  close  consultation 
with  Jefferson  Bell  over  political  matters,  discussing: 
issues  and  politics  of  the  county,  John  Smith  was  busy 
at  a  much  different  task,  and  with  him  was  the  cashier 
of  the  bank. 

This  evening  the  conversation  of  the  men  drifted' 
around  to  the  condition  in  which  they  found  the  books 
of  the  Banner  when  Smith  took  over  the  business  man- 
agement, and  the  changes  they  had  made  in  the  meth- 
ods of  keeping  accounts. 

113 


114  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"It  does  seem  strange,"  the  cashier  said,  among 
other  things,  "that  a  man  will  become  so  wrapped  up 
in  trying  to  save  his  country  and  getting  the  right  man 
to  hold  office  that  he  will  neglect  his  own  business 
affairs." 

"Can't  do  two  things  at  the  same  time,"  Smith 
replied. 

"Nonsense,"  the  cashier  sniffed,  "why  not?  A  man 
can  serve  his  country  all  right  and  really  do  the  coun- 
try a  favor  by  taking  care  of  his  own  interests  also." 

On  the  following  day  Smith  went  into  the  bank  and 
again  brought  up  the  matter  of  accounts. 

"That  old  ledger  of  Bell's  is  almost  worn  out.  It 
is  dirty  and  torn,  and  we  ought  to  have  a  new  one. 
What  kind  should  we  get?" 

The  cashier  took  down  a  catalogue  of  a  stationery 
supply  house  and  turned  to  the  page  where  various 
kinds  of  binders,  ledger  sheets  and  other  things  of  a 
similar  character  were  shown. 

"The  kind  of  a  ledger  I  would  advise  you  to  buy 
is  a  2l/2  in.  loose  leaf  binder  like  this  illustration,  the 
page  size  to  be  9Vz  by  11%.  This  is  the  standard  size, 
and  the  most  convenient.  One  with  a  round  back  is 
preferable,  although  some  say  the  flat  back  is  better. 
You  can  suit  yourself.  The  matter  of  ledger  leaves 
is  the  most  important,  and  I  like  this  style  myself.  It 
is  different  from  the  old  fashioned  ledger  leaf  with 
'debit'  and  'credit'  sides,  and  it  provides  for  a  'balance' 
column,  where  the  balance  can  always  be  kept." 

"Guess  that  is  about  right,"  Smith  said,  "and  I 
wish  that  you  would  send  for  one,  and  250  sheets,  and 


ACCOUNTS  115 

an  index  too.  You  didn't  say  anything  about  one,  but 
I  see  they  are  listed." 

"This  will  fix  you  up  with  books,  and  you  will  only 
have  to  buy  new  cash  journal  sheets  when  you  need 
them,  and  ledger  sheets,  too,  although  you  may  have 
to  buy  transfer  binders  for  both  of  them — that  will 
come  later.  I'll  order  these  at  once,  and  then  when 
they  come,  we  will  start  Mamie  to  posting  the  accounts 
from  the  journal  to  the  ledger,  and  finally  get  a  trial 
balance." 

It  was  several  days  before  the  binder  and  the  ledger 
sheets  arrived,  and  meantime  Smith  was  thinking  about 
the  method,  or  lack  of  method,  of  keeping  track  of 
subscription  accounts.  Some  years  ago  Bell  had  bought 
a  book  for  this  purpose.  It  was  a  long  narrow  book,, 
with  slots  in  the  thick  leaves  to  carry  slips  of  paper. 
The  names  of  the  subscribers  were  written  on  these 
slips,  and  one  or  more  leaves  were  devoted  to  each  of 
the  different  post  offices.  When  a  subscriber  changed 
his  address  the  slip  was  removed  to  another  page,  and 
when  a  subscriber  paid  for  his  subscription  the  matter 
was  recorded  on  the  slip.  Even  this  was  in  a  deplora- 
ble state,  as  a  mailer  had  been  installed  in  the  plant 
and  the  entire  subscription  list  set  in  type.  Attempts 
had  been  made  to  keep  up  both  of  them,  but  in  a  large 
number  of  instances  neither  was  accurate,  and  some- 
times the  slips  would  show  that  a  subscription  had 
been  paid,  while  the  type  in  the  mailing  list  did  not 
show  it,  and  then  the  reverse.  In  case  of  a  dispute 
with  a  subscriber  the  only  safe  way,  apparently,  was 
to  take  the  subscriber's  word  for  it. 

To  John  Smith's  orderly  mind  this  was  something 


116  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

that  must  be  changed.  If  the  keeping  of  accounts  with 
advertisers  was  important,  why  not  with  subscribers, 
even  if  there  were  a  large  number  of  them? 

For  Smith  to  think  about  a  thing  meant  that  in  the 
end  he  would  do  something.  So  it  was  with  the  sub- 
scription account.  He  spent  one  evening  going  over 
the  old  subscription  book  and  figuring  on  sheets  of 
paper.  Finally  he  smiled  with  satisfaction.  The  next 
day  he  printed  some  index  files  which  the  cashier  had 
but  did  not  use,  and  then  he  and  Mamie  started  check- 
ing over  the  mailing  list  with  the  old  subscription  book 
and  began  filling  in  the  cards.  The  cashier  came  down 
a  couple  of  evenings  and  helped  with  the  work,  and 
finally  it  was  completed,  the  galley  corrections  made, 
and  a  complete  index  of  the  subscribers  brought  up 
to  date. 

The  cashier  made  a  valuable  suggestion  which  was 
immediately  acted  upon. 

"Why  don't  you  put  the  index  cards  in  the  boxes 
according  to  months,"  he  said.  "Then  you  will  have 
a  record  of  when  the  subscriptions  expire.  The  galley 
proofs  will  give  you  the  date  of  expiration,  and  by 
turning  to  that  month  you  can  get  the  card.  On  the 
other  hand,  by  having  the  cards  according  to  months, 
Mamie  can  take  these  cards  the  first  of  each  month, 
make  out  the  bills  and  send  them  out.  As  the  sub- 
scribers pay  up,  the  cards  can  be  advanced  a  year 
ahead  under  a  new  index,  and  you  do  not  need  to  refer 
to  them  unless  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  a  change 
of  address.  The  delinquent  accounts  will  be  shown 
up  in  the  old  index  guides,  and  will  be  a  reminder 
that  you  ought  to  get  the  money." 


ACCOUNTS  117 

"Not  a  bad  idea,"  Smith  said,  "and  we  will  do  it. 
And  by  having  them  in  this  way  it  will  make  it  neces- 
sary for  us  to  keep  both  the  galley  lists  and  the  card 
lists  right  up  to  the  minute." 

"Why  not  print  the  galley  address  on  the  back  of 
the  card?"  Mamie  asked.  "It  seems  to  me  that  it 
would  help  a  great  deal  in  keeping  the  lists  accurate." 

"And  something  else  for  John  to  do,"  put  in  Smith. 
"I  don't  think  much  of  the  idea,  but  maybe  it  wouldn't 
be  a  bad  thing  to  do,  though  it  is  not  vitally  important." 

The  following  day  the  binder  and  the  ledger  sheets 
arrived,  and  Mamie  started  to  post  the  ledger.  Jeffer- 
son Bell  was  a  much  interested  spectator  of  this  new 
act,  and  examined  the  binder  after  the  ledger  leaves 
had  been  inserted  between  the  index. 

It  again  fell  to  Mamie's  lot  to  tell  Bell  all  about 
the  latest  new  "wonder,"  as  he  insisted  on  calling  it. 
Mamie  carefully  explained  the  advantages  of  the  loose 
leaf  system  over  the  old  bound  ledger  which  Bell  had 
used.  She  told  how  easy  it  was  to  look  up  an  account ; 
how,  when  the  pages  were  filled,  they  could  be  taken 
out  and  put  in  a  transfer  binder,  and  new  accounts 
opened  up  under  the  right  index  without  disturbing 
the  other  accounts,  and  many  other  advantages. 

Then  she  showed  Bell  how  they  were  taking  the  old 
balances  of  the  "accounts  receivable,"  as  found  the 
first  of  the  month,  and  putting  these  amounts  under 
each  separate  account,  giving  a  full  sheet  to  each  ac- 
count, then  from  the  cash  journal  posting  each  entry 
to  the  accounts  in  the  ledger,  carrying  forward  the 
balances  as  the  entries  were  made,  so  that  the  balance 
could  be  ascertained  in  a  moment. 


118  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Besides  the  accounts  that  showed  how  much  money 
was  owed  the  firm  of  Bell  &  Smith,  accounts  had  been 
opened  with  the  wholesale  paper  houses  from  which 
they  bought  goods,  and  now  each  invoice  was  not  only 
entered  on  the  cash  journal,  but  also  against  each 
separate  account,  so  that  they  could  tell  at  any  time 
just  how  much  money  they  owed,  also  just  how  much 
they  owed  any  certain  firm;  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
they  could  see  how  much  they  had  bought  from  any 
one  concern.  When  the  statements  came  in  at  the  end 
of  the  month  they  could  be  checked  with  the  account  as 
shown  by  their  ledger,  and  if  correct,  why,  all  right, 
they  could  be  paid;  if  not,  the  matter  could  be  looked 
into.  Being  few  in  number,  these  accounts,  which  she 
called  "accounts  payable,"  were  not  indexed,  but  were 
put  under  the  index  in  the  back  of  the  book,  so  as  te 
keep  them  separate  from  the  "accounts  receivable." 

Jefferson  Bell  looked  with  much  interest  at  the  two 
pages  of  the  People's  Department  Store  and  the  Cen- 
tral Ohio  Paper  Company.  He  noticed  that  a  special 
column  had  been  ruled  on  the  sheet  for  the  department 
store  with  "No."  written  in,  and  in  answer  to  his  in- 
quiry as  to  what  that  was  for,  Mamie  carefully  ex- 
plained that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  putting  in  the 
number  of  the  job  or  the  advertisement  so  that  refer- 
ence could  be  made  to  it  at  once  if  any  question  came 
up.  Putting  in  the  number  of  the  job  made  the  thing 
more  complete.  The  column  headed  "Fol."  was  meant 
to  contain  the  number  of  the  cash  journal  page  from 
which  the  entry  was  made. 

Jefferson  Bell  examined  each  carefully,  then  went 
back  to  his  desk.  "Well,  friend  of  many  years,"  he 


ACCOUNTS  119 

said,  taking  up  his  old  pen-holder,  ink  smeared  and 
worn,  "they  have  still  left  you  with  me,  and  as  you 
have  succeeded  the  goose  quill  of  years  ago,  no  doubt 
they  will  put  something  in  your  place,  but  as  long  as 
I  have  writing  to  do,  you  will  remain  with  me." 

Turning  to  a  newspaper  he  glanced  at  an  adver- 
tisement for  a  new  kind  of  a  typewriter  that  could  be 
carried  around,  and  which  was  described  as  just  the 
thing  for  writers,  editors,  etc. 

That  was  too  much  for  Jefferson  Bell,  so  he  took 
his  hat  and  went  out  into  the  fresh  air  and  down  Main 
street. 


Expenses 


IX 
EXPENSES 

WELL,  how's  everybody  and  every  little  thing! 
Great  guns!  What  have  you  people  done 
while  I've  been  away?  This  is  a  terrible  shock,  why 
didn't  you  prepare  me  for  it?  I  say  that  this  is  now  a 
real  print  shop,  and  laid  out  to  perfection.  Who  ever 
told  you  to  do  it?  Hello,  Bell,  how's  the  brainy  part 
of  the  concern?  Heard  you  took  in  Smith  here  as 
partner.  Pretty  good  thing  to  do.  But,  keep  that  man 
Smith  busy.  Is  he  still  writing  things  in  that  little 
book  of  his?  Great  guns,  I  have  to  keep  track  of  my 
expenses  and  send  in  an  expense  account.  The  old 
man  calls  it  a  swindle  sheet.  But  John  gets  me — he 
doesn't  have  to  keep  track  of  the  money  he  spends, 
and  yet  he  has  it  all  down  in  that  little  black  book, 
even  to  that  nickel  cigar  he  gave  me  last  time  I  was  here 
— let's  see,  that  must  be  about  four  or  five  months  ago. 
My,  how  time  does  go.  And  who  have  we  over  here? 
Another  addition  to  the  force?  Well,  she  is  some  im- 
provement over  the  rest  of  the  gang,  and  perhaps  she 
can  keep  you  straight — you  fellows  need  somebody 
like  that.  How  are  you  anyway?" 

Every  country  printer  will  at  once  recognize  the 
one  who  thus  speaks.     It  is — why,  yes, — the  salesman 

123 


124  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

for  the  paper  house,  or  the  typefoundry,  or  the  ready 
print  or  plate  house.  In  this  case  it  was  Mac.  Not 
one  publisher  in  twenty  knew  his  full  name,  but  all 
knew  him  as  just  Mac.  He  had  business  cards  with 
the  word  "Mac"  printed  in  forty-eight  point  type  in 
the  center  of  the  card,  and  down  in  the  corner  "Type" 
or  "Ready  Prints,"  or  something  like  that. 

Reference  to  Mamie  led  to  introductions,  and  then 
Mac  went  on  talking. 

"Glad  to  know  that  you  are  improving  things,  and 
got  some  one  to  keep  your  books.  Seems  as  if  printers 
all  over  the  country  are  taking  more  interest  in  book- 
keeping. But  that  was  to  be  expected  from  Smith 
here.  Well,  so  long,  Bell,  be  good.  Give  my  regards 
to  everybody  down  the  street,  and  tell  Mrs.  Bell  I  still 
remember  her  and  that  apple;  pie  she  fed  me  three 
years  ago.  Great  guns,  it's  hard,  this  eating  at  hotels 
all  the  time.  Good  bye,  Mamie,  and  take  care  of  your- 
self. Awful  glad  you  are  with  the  gang — they  need 
you  badly.  See  you  in  the  morning." 

As  he  was  about  to  leave  the  office  Mac  caught  sight 
of  Smith's  face,  and  turning  to  him  said,  "What's  the 
matter,  Smith,  you  look  worried.  Why  don't  you  be 
like  me,  never  worry  over  anything  except  whether  the 
old  man  will  0.  K.  the  last  expense  book.  Come  on 
to  supper  with  me,  and  forget  your  troubles." 

"Your  only  worry,  Mac,"  Smith  said,  "is  just 
what  is  worrying  me.  You  know  that  Mr.  Bell  never 
kept  track  of  his  expenses  and  didn't  know  what  he 
was  doing.  We  have  been  going  over  a  month  now, 
and  I  have  just  figured  up  the  expenses  and  it  certainly 


EXPENSES  125 

surprised  me,  to  say  the  least,  and  I  am  glad  you  are 
here,  because  you  ought  to  have  some  idea  of  what  it 
costs  to  run  a  plant  like  this,  and  I  wish  you  would 
look  over  this  list  of  expenses  and  let  me  know  what 
you  think  of  it." 

On  a  slip  of  paper,  written  in  John's  careful  pen- 
manship, was  the  following: 

EXPENSES  FOR  NOVEMBER 

Rent    H $  10.00 

Light  and  power 3.40 

Insurance,  1  year  21.50 

Sam  Adams,  bad  account 3.35 

Postage  stamps 1.80 

Telephone  2.50 

Long  distance  calls  90 

Pay  roll:    J.  Bell 72.00 

J.  Smith 70.00 

Tramp  printer  2.00 

Mamie  24.00 

Office   stationery:    Books    13.50 

Billheads 95 

Letterheads  + 1.30 

Envelopes  85 

Subscription  cards  2.50 

Stock  for  bills  for  church  entertainment         .45 

Plate   4.20 

W.  C.  T.  U.  tickets 1.00 

Towels  and  soap  65 

Express,  plate  and  stock  2.25 


Carried   forward   $239.10 


126  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Brought  forward $239.10 

Freight   and   drayage   6.15 

Interest  on  note  at  bank  6.00 

Oil  and  gasoline 2.80 

Twine    and   paste    90 

Rollers  for  jobber  1.50 

Four  issues,  Banner  28.90 

Postage,  Banner  2.70 

Balance  on  street  sprinkling 1.65 

Coal  _ 3.95 

News  and  job  ink 2.80 

Pencils 50 

Peterson,  lino,  border  3.10 

Gauge  pins  3.10 

3  suppers — Mamie 90 

Thanksgiving  turkey — Mamie 1.25 

Bell,  carfare  to  Alden,  Ohio 2.40 


Total $305.20 

"I  hope  you  haven't  shown  this  to  Bell.  It  would 
be  an  awful  shock  to  him  to  think  that  over  three  hun- 
dred dollars  in  perfectly  good  money  could  possibly 
be  spent  in  one  month.  That's  a  lot  of  money,  Smith, 
more  than  you  and  I  ever  thought  was  in  the  world — 
and  all  for  expenses.  If  I  ever  sent  in  an  expense 
like  that,  a  wire  to  come  in  would  greet  me  as  soon 
as  the  old  man  could  recover  from  the  shock  and  be 
able  to  send  it  to  me.  Now,  let's  say  we  are  the  old 
man  going  over  my  expense  account,  and  see  what  this 
expense  account  is,  if  it  is  too  much,  or  if  anything 
is  wrong. 


EXPENSES  127 

"Hum,  rent,  well  that  has  to  be  paid,  and  so  does 
power  and  light,  if  you've  got  to  run.  Insurance, 
sure,  because  you  may  need  the  money  if  you  burn 
out,  and  we  want  to  sell  you  something  to  replace 
that  which  has  been  consumed  by  the  angry  flames. 
But  all  one  year's  insurance  in  one  chunk  is  going 
some.  Still,  it  must  be  paid,  so  in  it  goes  in  one 
chunk. 

"You're  the  same  old  Smith.  If  you  don't  get  it, 
why  it's  a  loss.  Adams  doesn't  pay  up,  so  it's  an  ex- 
pense. Quite  right.  That's  the  way  we  do  at  the 
home  office.  So  much  each  month  to  cover  what  print- 
ers should  pay  but  don't.  Only  you  make  it  a  direct 
charge  in  the  one  instance.  Nothing  like  a  gentle  re- 
minder. Bad  accounts  will  occur. 

"Too  much  calling  up  on  the  long  distance.  Cut 
it  out  next  month,  got  to  keep  down  expense.  Oh,  had 
to  get  the  news  about  the  convention  for  the  paper. 
All  right  this  time,  then. 

"Well,  look  who's  here!  A  real  pay  roll  in  a 
country  print  shop,  and  honest  to  goodness  salaries 
paid!  Shake,  old  man,  that  is  one  expense  item  that 
is  0.  K.  Only  kick  is  that  it  isn't  large  enough.  All 
right  for  you  and  Bell,  but  boost  Mamie  a  bit.  You 
dubs  get  too  much  anyway.  Perhaps  not,  you  are 
just  owners,  remember,  and  it  is  a  new  thing  for  owners 
to  get  a  salary,  so  perhaps  I  am  wrong  about  your  get- 
ting too  much.  Live  better,  and  get  more.  All  right, 
just  as  you  say,  you  might  not  be  able  to  afford  more, 
but  try  it. 

"Office  stationery!  A  real  live  print  shop  with 
plenty  of  stationery.  Hurrah  for  Bell  &  Smith !  Printed 


128  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

in  three  colors,  too,  I  bet!  No  sir,  just  in  good  black 
ink,  and  gothic  type,  neat  and  nice.  Another  revolu- 
tion! But  why  only  the  paper  stock?  Why  not  the 
full  price?  It  took  some  of  your  time  to  print  it. 
Oh,  you  did  it  after  hours.  Did  you  draw  overtime? 
No!  Well,  that  makes  no  difference,  you  are  too 
cheap  for  yourself. 

"Subscription  cards!  Something  new,  let's  see 
them.  Fine  and  dandy!  Give  me  some  for  the  boys, 
as  a  lot  of  them  have  been  asking  for  something  of 
the  kind.  Send  it  to  The  Inland  Printer  so  they  can 
print  it  and  let  the  rest  of  the  publishers  know  about  it. 

"And  what  is  this  45  cents?  Printed  some  bills 
for  a  church  entertainment,  eh?  Charge  only  the 
paper?  Wrong  again,  Smith.  I  am  surprised  at  you. 
If  I  eat  a  15-cent  lunch,  I  put  down  35  cents  for  a 
square  meal — worth  the  20  cents  to  eat  the  lunch. 
If  those  bills  were  worth  $1.50,  which  you  would  have 
charged  the  ladies  had  they  paid  for  them,  that  should 
be  the  amount,  not  the  45  cents.  At  that,  not  one 
other  printer  in  a  thousand  but  John  Smith  would 
think  of  putting  down  even  the  45  cents. 

"Too  much  plate,  John.  Set  more  type,  and  keep 
down  this  expense.  And  then  those  tickets  for  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Wait  till  the  country  goes  dry  and  then 
you  will  regret  this  expense.  Don't  think  it  will,  you 
say.  Don't  count  on  that — it  might. 

"The  dear  old  office  towel!  It  cost  65  cents,  in- 
cluding the  soap.  John,  swipe  the  soap  from  the  hotel, 
and  ask  Mamie  to  wash  the  towel.  Save  this  expense. 

"Great  guns,  but  these  railroads  are  terrible!  Too 
much  for  freight  and  express,  but  what  are  we  to  do 


EXPENSES  129 

in  these  times  with  the  railroads  having  us  by  the 
throat?  Some  day  we  will  have  government  owner- 
ship and  half  the  freight  rate.  Save  just  $4  a  month 
then.  What,  you  think  that  rot?  Oh,  well,  you  are 
not  a  deep  thinker,  but  you  wait — no  booze  and  gov- 
ernment ownership  of  railroads — that's  my  platform. 
Please  don't  laugh,  John,  this  checking  of  expense  ac- 
count is  serious  business. 

"Got.  to  have  oil  and  gasoline,  but  use  more  lye 
on  your  type,  it's  cheaper,  even  if  it  does  hurt  your 
little  hands.  Then  you  have  twine  and  paste.  Paste 
for  Bell,  and  a  string  on — no  I  mean  string  to  tie  up 
the  jobs  with  and  to  wrap  packages.  Too  much  string, 
save  it  by  putting  the  string  in  neat  little  balls,  and 
hanging  on  a  nail.  A  dollar's  worth  of  time  to  save 
10  cents  worth  of  string,  but  time  never  costs  anything 
in  a  print  shop — so  save  the  string. 

"Rollers  for  the  jobbers.  Allow  me  to  congratulate 
you  on  at  last  getting  some  rollers  for  that  jobber  so 
you  can  print  with  them.  Oh,  that's  only  a  joke;  I 
know  you  always  had  good  rollers,  but  so  many  print- 
ers use  the  same  rollers  year  in  and  year  out,  I  could 
not  help  making  that  remark. 

"Four  issues  of  the  Banner,  $28.90!  What  for? 
Oh,  the  paper  in  it,  and  other  things.  Great  guns, 
does  it  cost  that  much  to  print  the  paper?  And  more, 
yet.  Postage,  $2.70.  Uncle  Sam  is  getting  as  bad 
as  the  railroads.  Let's  have  the  railroad  own  the 
postoffice,  and  cut  the  postage  rate  in  two.  How  about 
that? 

"No  dust,  please.  Finally  paid  up  old  Jerry,  so 
he  can  buy  feed  for  those  spavined  horses  of  his  that 


130  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

can  just  draw  around  that  sprinkling  wagon.  Great 
guns,  but  Jerry  has  been  on  that  job  a  long  time.  Too 
much  for  the  job.  Get  him  to  cut  the  price  or  you 
go  out  of  town  for  your  sprinkling  in  the  future. 

"The  coal  barons  have  you,  also.  Oh,  these  trusts! 
Just  think  how  much  money  we  would  have  if  we  could 
only  get  everything  from  the  trusts  and  then  pay  them 
only  one-fourth  what  they  charge.  I'm  against  the 
trusts.  Who  said  we  were  a  trust?  Nothing  doing, 
we  have  competition.  Who  are  they?  Let  them  tell 
you — I  never  advertise  the  other  fellow.  Too  busy 
advertising  myself. 

"Ink  for  the  presses,  and  pencils  for  the  editor. 
Must  still  have  some  of  that  quart  of  ink  for  the  pen 
left.  Nearly  gone?  Well,  things  just  will  go,  won't 
they? 

"Lino  border  and  gauge  pins.  Why  the  expense 
for  the  border?  Too  much  expense,  cut  out  all  borders 
in  the  future. 

"Three  suppers  for  Mamie.  My,  my,  but  you  will 
have  to  learn  how  to  properly  make  out  expense  ac- 
counts. That  would  never  get  by  the  old  man.  You 
ought  to  put  it  Misc.  That  stands  for  almost  any- 
thing in  an  expense  account.  Why  the  suppers  for 
Mamie?  Oh,  she  had  to  work  three  nights,  and  living 
a  distance  out  you  had  her  go  to  the  restaurant  for  her 
supper.  Did  you  pay  her  anything  extra  for  having 
to  eat  the  suppers  at  that  restaurant? 

"Then  you  gave  Mamie  a  nice  Thanksgiving  tur- 
key. Good  for  you,  only  had  it  been  me,  it  would  have 
been  a  nice  box  of  candy.  Make  it  candy  for  Christ- 
mas— that's  what  girls  like. 


EXPENSES  131 

"Bell  takes  a  trip  to  Alden,  and  you  charge  that  up 
to  expense.  Business  for  the  firm,  eh?  Well,  guess 
that  will  pass. 

"And  those  few  items  amount  to  $305.20.  What 
do  you  think  of  that?  And  outside  of  one  or  two 
criticisms  I  have  made,  it  seems  to  be  all  right,  except, 
where  do  I  come  in? 

"Not  one  cent  for  me.  How  about  your  plant  wear- 
ing out,  and  having  to  replace  it?  I  heard  a  fellow 
at  a  press  convention  in  Minnesota  a  while  ago  talk 
depreciation,  and  he  said  you  should  charge  ten  per 
cent  a  year  for  wear  and  tear  on  your  machinery,  so 
that  you  could  buy  new  machinery  at  the  end  of  ten 
years — and  new  type  also,  as  well  as  anything  in  the 
shop.  That  sounded  good  to  us  boys,  and  we  know 
that  if  the  printers  had  been  doing  this  we  could  sell 
a  lot  of  them  new  things  they  ought  to  have  right  now. 
John,  if  you  love  me,  put  this  in  each  month  so  I  can 
sell  you  the  press  you  have  been  talking  about  so  long 
that  you  would  like  to  print  your  paper  on. 

"Great  guns,  John,  I  am  surprised  at  you!  Here 
you  have  been  keeping  your  money  in  the  bank  and 
making  them  pay  you  interest,  and  now  you  have  taken 
the  money  out  of  the  bank  and  have  forgotten  to  charge 
interest  for  it.  I  skipped  that  item  of  interest  you 
paid  the  bank  last  month,  and  expected  to  see  where 
you  had  credited  Bell  &  Smith  with  interest  that  was 
coming  to  them  for  what  they  had  invested  in  this 
plant. 

"There's  your  expense  account,  old  man.  Draw 
yourself  a  check  for  it,  and  then  start  another  one. 


132  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"Come  on  to  supper.  This  is  one  you  won't  have 
to  put  down  on  any  expense  account,  for  I  am  going 
to  do  the  deed.  Don't  worry,  you  will  pay  for  it  just 
the  same.  The  house  keeps  track  of  all  these  little 
expenses  of  mine  very  nicely,  and  they  all  enter  into 
the  expense  of  doing  business,  and  the  printer  pays 
the  bill  in  the  end,  just  as  the  people  who  buy  your 
paper,  your  advertising  and  your  jobwork  must  in  the 
end  pay  for  all  those  expenses.  Ever  think  of  that? 
Well,  do,  but  forget  it  for  the  time  being,  and  let's  go 
and  eat. 

"Great  guns,  but  I  am  hungry!" 


Losses 


X 

LOSSES 

WE  CAN  tear  off  several  months  from  the  calendar 
of  the  year,  bid  Christmas  good  cheer,  say 
"hello"  to  the  year  1912,  and  feel  the  air  of  the  spring 
time,  and  finally  early  summer  or  late  spring,  as  we 
wish.  It  is  the  middle  of  June,  and  we  can  take  a  peek 
through  the  open  door  of  the  shop  of  the  Bladon  Ban- 
ner and  see  what  is  going  on.  Our  old  friends  are  all 
there — John,  Mamie  and  Jefferson  Bell — but  four  more 
are  busily  at  work,  the  job  presses  are  going  at  top 
speed,  and  John  and  another  man  are  working  at  the 
cases.  Something  must  have  happened?  We  look 
again,  and  then  as  we  turn  away  we  notice  a  man  com- 
ing up  the  street  with  a  confident  swing  to  his  step. 

"What's  all  the  business?  You  certainly  have  put 
on  some  speed  here.  Must  be  making  a  lot  of  money 
to  keep  this  bunch  paid  off.  Wear  out  the  type  and 
presses  as  fast  as  you  want  to — we  have  lots  more  for 
sale.  Guess  you  are  too  busy  to  talk  to  me  now,  see 
you  after  supper,  John.  Guess  I  will  have  to  talk  to 
Mr.  Bell  a  minute." 

"I  am  always  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Mac,"  Bell  said 
in  his  slow  manner.  "Some  way  you  bring  in  an  air 
of  vigor  and  a  spirit  of  refreshment,  and  we  all  feel 

135 


136  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

better  for  your  coming — even  if  it  usually  costs  us 
money." 

"Say,  Mr.  Bell,  you  said  a  whole  lot  that  time. 
Thanks  for  the  kind  words,  and  thanks  for  the  order 
later.  You  fellows  must  be  getting  a  lot  of  business." 

"Yes,  we  are  very  busy,"  Bell  replied.  "John 
thought  that  with  the  machinery  we  had  we  could  do 
a  lot  more  work,  so  he  began  to  send  out  circulars  and 
solicit  job  printing  in  the  neighboring  towns,  and  we 
have  a  lot  of  printing  from  all  over  the  county,  even 
some  from  Columbus.  You  know  John  is  a  good 
printer,  and  the  buyers  of  printing  seem  anxious  to 
have  us  do  their  work.  We  finished  a  big  catalogue 
for  the  machine  company  at  Blayton,  and  they  seem 
very  much  pleased  with  it  and  have  sent  us  a  lot  more 
work." 

"I  heard  from  some  of  the  other  printers  in  the 
county  you  were  after  the  work,  and  was  just  wonder- 
ing how  you  were  coming  along — and  so  were  they." 

"Just  what  do  you  mean,  Mac?" 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,  but  the  other  printers  seem  to 
think  you  are  doing  a  lot  of  printing  at  prices  they 
don't  want  to  do  it  for.  But,  I  guess  John  knows 
what  he  is  doing." 

"Well,  Mac,"  Mr.  Bell  said  hesitatingly,  "I  am  not 
TSO  sure,  and  I  don't  blame  Smith  altogether.  We  are 
doing  a  lot  of  work,  but  some  way  John  doesn't  seem 
to  be  satisfied.  I  don't  understand  this  profit  and  loss, 
expense,  costs,  unfinished  work,  and  a  lot  of  other 
things  that  John  is  continually  talking  about.  I  know 
he  is  working  too  hard,  and  seemingly  we  have  no 
more  money  than  before.  I  don't  just  understand  all 


LOSSES  137 

about  this  bookkeeping  matter,  but  perhaps  John  will 
be  able  to  tell  you  more  about  it.  John  has  a  lot  of 
confidence  in  you,  and  said  yesterday  he  wished  you 
would  soon  show  up,  as  he  wanted  to  talk  some  things 
over  with  you." 

Mac  pulled  up  a  chair  and  sat  puffing  at  his  cigar, 
and  though  it  might  appear  that  he  was  not  taking 
note  of  a  single  thing  going  on  in  the  office,  yet  as  a 
matter  of  fact  he  was  taking  a  very  careful  and  com- 
plete survey  of  the  situation,  and  turning  over  in  his 
mind  just  what  was  going  on.  Oh,  that  publishers 
and  printers  over  the  country  would  just  let  the  "Mac" 
that  calls  on  them  tell  them  just  what  is  the  matter 
with  their  business,  instead  of  refusing  to  profit  by  the 
fresh  outlook  of  the  man  on  the  outside!  But  the 
"Macs"  know  well  enough  not  to  give  advice  when  it 
is  not  asked  for,  and  while  they  see  a  business  going 
to  wreck,  they  must,  through  the  ethics  of  their  pro- 
fession, keep  a  still  mouth,  except  to  the  "head  of  the 
house,"  who  begins  to  watch  very  closely  the  account 
of  the  concern  which  is  under  suspicion. 

John  Smith  was  not  one  of  the  kind  who  thought 
he  knew  it  all,  but  was  ready  to  listen  to  the  advice  of 
the  other  fellow  once  in  a  while.  In  fact,  listening 
to  the  advice  of  the  other  fellow  was  the  cause  of  the 
increase  in  business  and  the  awakening  of  the  print 
shop  to  life. 

The  day's  work  at  an  end,  John  and  Mac  go  out 
for  supper,  then  back  to  the  printing  office,  where  they 
talk  over  the  business. 

"Well,  John,"  Mac  started  in,  "it  doesn't  look  as 
though  you  have  cut  down  any  expenses.  The  last 


138  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

time  I  was  here  you  were  worrying  about  them  and 
now  you  must  have  a  bunch  more.  Why  all  the  busi- 
ness and  the  expenses?" 

"That  is  just  what  I  want  to  talk  to  you  about," 
said  John  as  he  went  to  Mamie's  desk,  took  out  a  sheet 
of  paper  and  laid  it  before  Mac. 

"Say,  what  is  all  this,  anyway?"  Mac  finally  asked. 
"Here  you  have  the  months  of  November,  December, 
January,  February,  March,  April  and  May,  with  a  lot 
of  figures  under  each.  Explain,  John,  I  am  no  mind 
reader,  nor  am  I  good  at  puzzles.  What  is  this  one 
here?  Under  November  it  says,  total  business,  $452.35; 
merchandise  used,  $131.14;  expenses,  $316.04;  profit, 
$5.15;  depreciation,  $38.29;  interest,  $22.97;  actual 
loss,  $56.11.  Why  the  profit  and  then  the  loss?" 

"It  means,"  Smith  replied,  "that  if  I  didn't  figure 
anything  for  the  wear  and  tear  on  the  machinery,  or 
any  interest  on  the  money  we  have  invested,  we  made 
the  sum  of  $5.15  in  the  month  of  November,  over 
and  above  our  salaries.  But,  if  I  figured  depreciation 
and  interest,  we  lost  $56.11.  Look  at  December." 

"Total  business,  $684.15.  That  is  a  gain  of  almost 
fifty  per  cent.  Pretty  good." 

"Yes,  I  got  out  a  special  Christmas  edition,  and  got 
a  lot  of  advertising.  Hired  a  printer  to  help  out,  and 
Mamie  and  I  worked  nights  to  get  out  the  edition. 
Bell  also  worked  nights,  so  I  charged  to  expense  the 
overtime  for  all  of  us  and  the  cost  of  the  extra  printer. 
Couldn't  see  where  working  overtime  would  make  us 
a  profit  unless  we  were  paid  for  it,  so  counted  it  as 
salary.  Now  read  the  rest  of  it." 


LOSSES  139 

"Hum!  Expenses,  $448.46;  paper,  $227.36;  profit, 
$8.33.  Not  much  profit.  Did  you  count  in  your  in- 
terest, and  what's  that  other — oh  yes,  depreciation?" 

"That's  the  worst  of  it,  neither  of  those  is  in  the 
expenses,  although  I  did  put  in  the  extra  pay  we  were 
all  entitled  to.  Now  look  at  January." 

"Business,  $534.17;  expenses,  $406.38;  paper, 
$132.16;  loss,  $4.37.  How  about  that?" 

"When  we  got  out  the  Christmas  edition  the  office 
was  in  bad  shape  with  a  lot  of  type  standing  and  an 
accumulation  of  jobwork,  so  I  had  to  keep  the  printer. 
I  talked  with  the  cashier  about  the  loss  each  month, 
and  he  said  that  we  were  not  doing  business  enough, 
and  he  was  the  one  who  suggested  the  Christmas  edi- 
tion. He  had  seen  one  put  out  last  year  by  another 
paper,  and  he  thought  we  could  make  some  money  on 
one.  Just  then  in  dropped  the  printer  looking  for 
work,  and  so  we  went  at  it.  Several  of  our  advertisers 
are  now  kicking  and  want  to  pull  out  some  of  their  ads. 
because  they  spent  so  much  on  the  Christmas  edition. 

"After  we  got  that  out  we  talked  the  matter  over, 
and  I  showed  him  the  expense  account  for  December. 
After  going  over  it  he  showed  me  where  the  expense 
of  the  printer  was  but  little  more,  and  that  with  the 
other  expenses  the  same,  we  could  do  twice  the  amount 
of  jobwork  we  were  doing  and  make  some  money,  and 
get  the  expense  account  so  we  could  include  the  in- 
terest and  depreciation,  yet  show  a  profit." 

"This  is  getting  interesting,  John.  Go  ahead  with 
the  rest  of  the  story,  without  these  everlasting  figures 
of  yours." 


140  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"No,  look  them  over,  and  tell  me  what  you  think 
of  them." 

"Think!  I  simply  can't  think.  Every  month  you 
show  more  business,  and  yet  the  expenses  keep  coming 
on  right  up  all  the  time,  and  while  the  profits  are  just 
a  little  larger  each  month,  yet  they  are  not  enough  to 
cover  the  interest  and  depreciation.  What  did  you 
do,  raise  salaries,  or  what?" 

"Well,  here  is  what  happened,  as  far  as  I  can  see 
it  now.  What  the  end  will  be,  I  don't  know.  When 
we  got  the  printer  to  stay,  I  found  that  with  the  in- 
creased job  work  I  did  not  have  time  enough  to  run  the 
presses,  so  I  hired  a  boy  to  feed  one  of  the  presses 
while  I  did  something  else  and  worked  on  the  paper. 
I  guess  I  was  careless,  and  did  not  read  the  proofs  well, 
but  anyway  we  spoiled  a  job  with  $60  worth  of  paper, 
and  had  to  do  it  all  over,  and  work  nights  too.  That 
taught  me  a  lesson,  so  I  got  a  girl  to  do  folding  and 
work  on  the  presses,  and  I  took  more  time  for  proof- 
reading and  other  things,  such  as  cutting  stock  and 
looking  after  details." 

"Say,  where  did  you  get  all  this  work,  that's  what 
I  want  to  know-" 

"The  cashier  put  me  wise  to  a  scheme,  and  I  printed 
up  some  samples  of  letterheads  and  things  with  prices 
on  them,  and  sent  out  some  blotters  to  nearby  towns 
soliciting  work.  I  got  a  few  orders,  but  the  best 
result  was  the  receipt  of  a  request  for  prices  from  the 
Blayton  Machinery  Company.  The  cashier  said  he 
knew  the  president,  so  he  wrote  a  letter  saying  we  could 
do  a  lot  of  work  and  perhaps  save  him  money,  as  our 
expenses  were  light,  and  asked  him  to  give  us  a  chance. 


LOSSES  141 

We  got  a  lot  of  forms  to  figure  on,  and  by  combining 
some  of  them  and  finding  out  that  some  were  reprinted 
every  few  months,  I  figured  the  prices  right,  and  the 
boy  feeding  the  press  made  the  presswork  low.  The 
president  was  so  pleased  that  he  sent  us  most  of  his 
orders,  saying  if  we  could  do  as  well  by  him  in  the 
future  we  could  get  a  chance  at  all  his  printing,  which 
was  a  big  item  each  month. 

"We  went  to  work  on  the  printing,  and  it  was  all 
right  except  for  one  thing,  which  was  unfortunate,  and 
will  never  happen  again.  On  one  job  I  forgot  to  look 
on  the  back,  and  did  not  figure  on  printing  both  sides. 
The  sample  was  printed  on  both  sides,  so  I  had  to  do 
it.  On  another  job  I  figured  only  half  enough  stock, 
and  it  cost  $32.14  more  for  the  stock  than  I  figured. 
I  will  be  more  careful  in  the  future,  but  it  occurred 
on  another  job  for  the  same  people.  We  started  in 
to  print  it  and  found  we  had  only  half  enough  paper, 
and  had  to  have  the  rest  sent  by  express. 

"These  things  account  for  some  of  the  losses.  But 
we  got  a  chance  to  print  one  of  their  small  catalogues, 
and  the  printer  said  he  had  done  that  kind  of  work, 
and  we  could  get  the  type  set  on  machines  in  Colum- 
bus, make  up  the  forms  here  and  print  the  job  on  the 
cylinder.  We  spent  two  days  figuring  the  job  and  get- 
ting prices  on  the  typesetting.  The  president  of  the 
machinery  company  said  we  were  a  bit  high,  but  if 
we  cut  the  price  $35  we  could  have  the  order. 

"I  didn't  want  to  do  it,  but  the  printer  and  the 
cashier  talked  me  into  it  by  saying  it  would  be  a  big 
ad.  for  us,  and  our  expenses  would  be  just  about  the 
same  anyway,  and  we  would  make  all  above  the  cost 


142  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

of  the  paper  and  the  typesetting.  So  I  cut  the  price, 
and  the  president  said  he  was  very  glad  I  did  so,  as 
he  really  wanted  to  give  me  the  job. 

"It  took  about  twice  as  long  to  do  the  job  as  I 
thought,  and  we  had  to  borrow  some  money  from  the 
bank  to  pay  for  the  paper  and  the  typesetting  before 
we  finished  the  book  and  could  get  our  money — and 
pay  them  interest.  They  made  a  lot  of  changes  which 
ran  up  the  cost  of  the  typesetting,  and  then  they  re- 
fused to  pay  for  the  extras,  saying  they  were  giving 
us  a  lot  of  work  and  it  took  only  a  short  time  to  make 
them  anyway,  also  they  never  had  to  pay  for  such 
things  from  any  other  printer. 

"I  was  terribly  surprised  when  I  finished  adding 
up  the  expenses  for  May  and  found  we  had  lost 
$106.15,  even  with  the  catalogue  and  all  the  job  work 
figured  in.  Of  course  the  other  months  showed  a  loss 
because  we  were  working  on  the  catalogue. 

"I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  it  all.  Guess  the 
darn  printing  business  is  no  good.  I  sometimes  wish 
I  had  never  gone  into  it.  I  first  worked  for  Bell,  and 
had  a  dickens  of  a  time  getting  my  money  from  him, 
and  then  when  I  took  a  half  ownership  I  found  the 
business  losing  money  and  not  even  paying  interest 
on  the  money  invested.  Then  I  have  a  chance  to  in- 
crease the  business,  get  out  a  special  advertising  num- 
ber of  the  Banner  with  a  lot  of  advertisements,  get 
out  a  catalogue,  work  harder  than  I  ever  did  before, 
draw  no  more  money,  and  yet  the  confounded  book- 
keeping system  shows  that  the  expenses  are  greater 
than  the  gross  profits. 


LOSSES  143 

"The  cashier  and  I  have  fought  over  this  until  we 
hardly  speak  any  more.  In  one  breath  he  says  our 
expenses  are  too  much,  and  then  in  the  next  he  says 
we  are  not  doing  enough  business  and  that  we  should 
go  out  and  get  more.  I  do.  I  send  out  circulars,  go 
over  to  Blayton  and  get  a  lot  of  work,  work  harder 
than  ever,  and  yet  Mamie  and  her  cash  book  journal 
show  a  loss." 

"Gee,  gosh,"  Mac  exclaimed,  "to  think  of  so  much 
trouble  in  a  set  of  figures.  John,  that's  what  you  get 
for  wanting  to  have  figures  on  everything.  The  happy 
printers  I  know  of  are  those  that  have  no  books,  never 
know  how  much  business  they  are  doing,  send  in  checks 
to  pay  their  bills,  and  then  have  the  banks  telephone 
them  to  come  over  with  some  cash  or  they  will  have  to 
protest  the  checks.  Now,  Jefferson  Bell  was  happy 
for  years,  until  the  bank  came  in  and  wanted  money 
and  you  wanted  your  money.  Then  you  framed  it  up 
to  take  a  half  interest  in  the  shop  with  all  the  troubles 
connected  with  it  and  go  into  business  with  him. 
What's  the  answer,  John?  Can  you  give  it? 

"No,  I  can't,  and  that's  what  is  worrying  me.  The 
books  are  right.  We  are  losing  money.  Yet  we  are 
doing  more  business  than  ever,  and  each  month  the 
loss  is  larger.  We  manage  to  get  by  because  we  are 
only  drawing  our  salaries,  but  every  time  I  think  of  the 
money  invested  in  this  plant,  and  that  we  are  not  get- 
ting a  cent  return,  when  I  could  still  be  drawing  good 
wages  and  the  bank  or  somebody  else  only  too  glad  to 
pay  me  good  interest  on  my  money,  it  makes  me  sore. 
I  have  saved  for  years,  kept  track  of  every  cent,  and 
worked  hard,  and  so  has  Jefferson  Bell,  yet  all  we  get 


144  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

out  of  it  is  the  wages  we  would  pay  any  printer  to 
work  for  us.  To  hell  with  the  printing  business." 

"And  you  only  six  months  or  so  in  it,  and  ready 
to  say  such  naughty  things  about  it.  John,  I'm  ashamed 
of  you!" 

"Well,  if  you're  so  smart  and  think  the  printing 
business  is  all  right — just  go  ahead  and  tell  me  how  to 
make  a  profit  in  this  business." 

"Not  tonight,  John,  not  tonight!  Let's  go  over  and 
shoot  a  few  games  of  pool,  and  then  go  to  bed.  To- 
morrow is  Sunday  and  we  will  come  down  to  the  office 
and  talk  this  thing  all  over.  John,  you  are  a  good 
fellow,  even  though  you  worry  about  figures,  and  a  lot 
of  mean  things  said  about  you  by  printers  in  the  county 
and  in  Blayton  can  be  taken  back.  But,  don't  worry. 
I'll  spot  you  ten  points  and  beat  you.  What  do  you 
say?" 


Profits 


XI 


PROFITS 

TTHERE  was  something  the  matter  and  it  worried  the 
JL  cashier.  For  months  he  had  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  the  business  of  the  Banner,  and  in  his  two  friends,, 
and  had  given  them  his  best  -advice,  viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  a  banker  and  merchant,  and  then  sudden- 
ly his  advice  was  asked  for  no  longer,  and  a  distinct 
coldness  toward  him  was  evidenced  in  the  manner  of 
both  Smith  and  Bell.  John  Smith  hardly  spoke  to  him, 
and  Jefferson  Bell  renewed  the  attitude  of  hostility 
which  he  displayed  when  the  bank  closed  down  upon 
him  and  protested  one  of  his  checks.  Other  things 
happened  that  made  the  cashier  a  little  peeved,  and 
he  stopped  going  to  the  printing  office,  although  some- 
thing seemed  to  pull  him  toward  the  place,  and  he 
missed  keenly  the  confidences  and  chats  he  used  to 
have  with  Smith,  to  say  nothing  of  the  little  pleasant* 
ries  passed  between  him  and  Mamie. 

He  noticed  that  in  June  John  Smith  attended  a 
meeting  of  publishers  in  the  county  seat,  but  he  paid 
little  attention  to  the  event  at  the  time.  It  seemed 
that  they  had  formed  a  county  organization,  and  he 
was  just  on  the  point  of  going  over  and  telling  Smith 
he  thought  that  was  a  good  scheme,  when  Jefferson 
147 


148  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Bell  came  in  with  his  monthly  bill.  During  the  month 
the  bank  had  run  the  usual  "Statement  of  Condition," 
which  was  required  by  the  State  law.  He  glanced  at 
the  bill,  and  noticed  that  the  Banner  had  charged  the 
bank  $5  instead  of  the  usual  $3  that  had  been  charged 
for  years. 

Evidently  Bell  had  been  expecting  some  protest, 
for  before  the  cashier  could  say  anything  Bell  started 
to  explain. 

"At  the  meeting  of  the  county  publishers,"  Bell 
said,  "the  matter  of  charging  for  bank  statements  was 
taken  up,  and  it  was  found  that  not  all  papers  were 
charging  the  same.  After  a  lot  of  discussion  it  was 
decided  that  $5  was  the  only  profitable  rate  for  print- 
ing such  notices,  and  we  will  hereafter  have  to  charge 
the  bank  that  amount." 

"The  dickens  you  say!  So  you  have  formed  a 
trust,  eh?" 

"No,  not  exactly  that,"  Bell  hastened  to  say,  "but 
as  other  classes  of  business  get  together  and  talk  over 
things,  the  publishers  of  this  county  have  decided  to 
do  the  same  thing,  and  while  we  are  not  compelled  to 
charge  $5,  yet  as  other  papers  in  the  county  get  the 
price  we  might  just  as  well." 

"Well,  I'll  pay  you  the  regular  $3  and  no  more." 

"I  am  sorry,  but  the  law  compels  you  to  print  the 
statement,  and  as  $5  is  a  very  moderate  amount,  we 
believe  you  had  better  pay.  And  another  thing,  we 
find  it  necessary  to  raise  our  advertising  rates  in  a 
few  instances,  and  instead  of  $1.50  a  month  for  the 
bank  advertisement,  you  will  be  charged  $2.50  here- 
after." 


PROFITS  149 

"Is  that  so!  Please  take  the  ad.  out.  You  can't 
gouge  me  like  that." 

By  this  time  the  cashier  was  just  a  little  bit  peeved, 
if  not  angry.  To  his  surprise,  Bell  simply  smiled,  and 
looked  at  him. 

"I  think  you  will  change  your  mind/'  he  said, 
"when  you  think  the  matter  over  seriously.  You  know 
Smith  and  you  have  not  settled  up  on  certain  trans- 
actions yet,  and  while  we  hate  to  refer  to  such  things, 
don't  you  think  you  had  better  keep  the  ad.  in?  Be- 
sides, what  would  the  people  of  the  town  and  the 
people  of  the  county  think  when  your  ad.  failed  to 
appear?  Just  think  again." 

Never  before  had  Bell  talked  to  the  cashier  in  that 
tone  of  voice,  and  strange  to  say,  the  cashier's  attitude 
changed  immediately.  He  reluctantly  told  Bell  to  keep 
the  ad.  going,  although  it  was  highway  robbery,  and 
some  other  things. 

"In  that  case  the  advertisement  will  not  appear 
next  week,  and  should  you  wish  to  advertise  again,  it 
will  be  under  contract,  and  the  rate  will  be  just  double 
what  you  are  paying.  Good  day!" 

What  was  the  meaning  of  all  this?  The  cashier 
could  not  understand,  and  for  several  days  he  puzzled 
over  it,  but  when  the  next  issue  of  the  Banner  appeared 
the  bank  advertisement  was  missing. 

Never  did  the  cashier  read  a  copy  of  the  Banner 
as  diligently  as  that  one.  Glancing  at  the  editorial 
page  he  read  an  announcement  that  on  August  1  the 
subscription  price  of  the  Banner  would  be  $1.50  a 
year ;  that  those  in  arrears  would  have  to  pay  up  before 
then  or  the  paper  would  be  discontinued;  that  here- 


150  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

after  the  paper  would  only  be  sent  to  those  who  paid 
in  advance,  and  that  thirty  days  after  the  expiration 
the  paper  would  be  stopped,  or  in  other  words,  the 
subscribers  had  thirty  days'  grace. 

The  manager  of  the  People's  store  came  into  the 
bank  just  then,  and  seeing  the  cashier  reading  the 
paper,  he  proceeded  to  say  some  things  he  had  on  his 
mind. 

"What  has  got  into  those  fellows,  anyway?  Are 
they  crazy?  They  notified  us  a  week  ago  that  the 
advertising  rate  would  be  5  cents  an  inch  more,  and 
I  told  them  to  cut  out  our  ad.  Now,  look  at  what 
they've  done!" 

Taking  the  paper  he  turned  to  page  8,  the  back 
page,  and  seeing  a  half  page  advertisement  of  a  store 
from  the  town  only  four  miles  away,  he  showed  it  to 
the  cashier.  Just  one  glance  was  enough,  when  the 
cashier  noted  another  advertisement  of  an  insurance 
agency  in  the  neighboring  town  advertising  insurance 
and  also  loans  on  real  estate.  In  fact  they  found 
several  advertisements  that  had  not  appeared  before 
in  the  Banner. 

"Looks  as  though  they  meant  business,"  the  cashier 
said,  "and  it  is  up  to  us  to  find  out  what  it's  all  about." 

Just  then  they  noticed  Bell  going  by,  and  the  cashier 
called  him  in. 

"What  do  you  fellows  mean,  anyway?  You  raise 
the  price  and  then  get  advertisements  from  other  cities. 
Are  you  trying  to  ruin  the  town?" 

"No,  gentlemen,"  Jefferson  Bell  said,  "but  we  have 
decided  to  run  the  Banner  on  strictly  business  lines. 
If  you  do  not  wish  to  pay  our  prices,  we  find  that  others 


PROFITS  151 

will.  You  send  out  of  town  for  your  printing — oh, 
yes  you  do !  How  about  those  ten  thousand  statements 
you  just  got  in  Columbus,  and  those  twenty-five  thous- 
and deposit  slips  you  got  from  Indianapolis?  Don't 
talk  about  hurting  the  town,  when  you  buy  out  of  town ! 
If  others  are  willing  to  advertise  with  us,  and  pay  our 
prices,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  you  should  object.  If 
you  wish  to  advertise,  here  is  our  rate  card." 

To  think  that  Jefferson  Bell  should  talk  thus!  The 
men  could  hardly  believe  it,  and  when  they  had  some- 
what recovered,  Jefferson  Bell  had  gone  out  of  the 
door  and  slammed  it  after  him. 

Of  course  they  meant  to  advertise,  and  discontinu- 
ing the  advertisements  liad  been  just  a  protest  at  the 
new  rates,  and  was  not  meant  entirely  seriously.  They 
could  not  afford  to  have  others  advertise  and  have 
the  people  of  Bladon  asking  why  they  did  not,  nor 
could  they  afford  to  have  the  store  of  the  town  four 
miles  away  carry  half  page  advertisements.  They 
were  not  serious,  and  the  matter  would  be  fixed  up 
right  away.  This  could  not  continue  at  any  price. 

Nevertheless,  although  both  the  bank  and  the  store 
at  once  resumed  their  advertising,  the  store  taking 
larger  space  than  before,  and  the  store  four  miles  away 
discontinuing  its  advertising,  the  cashier  still  was  wor- 
ried, as  neither  Smith  nor  Bell  seemed  willing  to  get 
back  on  the  old  footing  that  existed  some  months 
before. 

When  the  cashier  was  over  in  Blayton  on  some  busi- 
ness, he  happened  to  meet  the  president  of  the  concern 
for  whom  the  Banner  had  been  doing  a  lot  of  work. 


152  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

"You  are  just  the  fellow  I  want  to  see,"  the  presi- 
dent said.  "What  has  got  into  your  printer  friends 
over  in  your  town?  They  used  to  do  a  lot  of  work 
for  us,  and  now  their  prices  are  higher  than  some  of 
the  other  printers'.  I  wanted  to  do  business  with  them. 
We  saved  $200  on  our  catalogue,  and  they  came  down 
$35  on  the  price  when  I  asked  a  reduction.  Some  of 
their  prices  showed  up  other  printers  badly.  They 
certainly  knew  how  to  figure  right.  But  now  they  put 
in  prices  all  out  of  reason,  and  while  their  work  is 
very  satisfactory,  and  they  are  very  reasonable  about 
correcting  mistakes  and  printing  things  over  that  are 
not  exactly  right,  they  charge  terrible  prices.  At  that 
I  am  giving  them  some  work,  but  not  nearly  as  much 
as  I  used  to  and  it  is  getting  less  each  month,  and  I  am 
afraid  I  will  have  to  quit  them  altogether  unless  they 
make  better  prices.  Can't  you  see  them  and  explain 
to  them  that  if  they  keep  on  they  will  soon  lose  all 
our  business?" 

"Don't  ask  me  to  say  anything  to  them.  They  have 
raised  their  advertising  rates,  and  subscription  rates, 
and  hardly  speak  to  me.  I  have  troubles  of  my  own." 

On  his  return,  the  cashier  decided  that  he  must  find 
out  what  it  was  all  about.  He  happened  to  be  charg- 
ing some  checks  to  the  account  of  Bell  &  Smith,  and 
noticed  that  they  had  a  much  larger  balance  than  be- 
fore. If  their  bank  account  was  an  indication,  they 
were  evidently  making  money. 

That  night  the  cashier  suggested  to  his  sister  Lucy 
that  they  had  not  had  Mamie  and  her  mother  over  to 
tea  for  a  long  time,  and  it  might  be  a  good  plan  to 
have  them  come  soon.  A  week  later  Mamie  and  her 


PROFITS  153 

mother  were  the  guests  of  the  cashier  and  his  sister, 
and  after  supper,  the  cashier  took  the  chance  of  asking 
Mamie  how  business  was  at  the  office,  and  thus  lead 
to  things  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

"Oh,  things  are  just  fine  with  us,  now,"  Mamie 
said  with  a  faint  smile  on  her  lips. 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  that,"  he  said,  "but  what  seems 
to  be  the  matter  with  Smith  and  Bell?  They  hardly 
speak  to  me,  and  some  things  seem  very  queer." 

"You  mustn't  talk  about  things  in  the  shop,  as  that 
isn't  right,  is  it?" 

"Well,  perhaps  to  others,  but  you  know  I  have 
always  been  interested  in  the  Banner,  and  helped  them 
with  the  bookkeeping  system,  and  then  all  of  a  sudden 
things  have  changed." 

"Yes,"  Mamie  assented,  "things  have  changed,  and 
it  looks  this  time  as  though  it  is  for  the  better.  But, 
really,  I  can't  say  a  thing  about  it.  Why  don't  you 
ask  Mr.  Bell  or  Mr.  Smith?" 

Despite  everything  he  could  say,  Mamie  would  tell 
nothing,  and  at  last  it  was  time  to  go.  The  cashier 
decided  that  he  would  take  one  more  chance  and  take 
Mamie  and  her  mother  home,  and  then  perhaps  he 
would  have  another  opportunity  to  find  out  just  what 
had  happened. 

Their  way  lay  along  Main  street,  and  as  they  went 
along  they  noticed  that  lights  were  burning  in  the 
printing  office. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Bell  must  be  there,"  Mamie  exclaimed, 
"let's  go  over  and  see  him.  Come  on,  don't  be  afraid, 
maybe  he  will  relieve  your  curiosity,  if  you  want  to 
know  about  the  Banner." 


154  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Inside,  they  found  not  only  Mr.  Bell,  but  John 
Smith  who  was  listening  very  attentively  to  something 
Jefferson  was  reading. 

"Come  on  in,  folks,"  said  Mr.  Bell,  "and  make 
yourselves  at  home.  It's  been  a  long  time  since  the 
cashier  visited  us  on  an  evening." 

"  Yes,"  the  cashier  said,  "and  it's  about  time  for 
us  to  get  back  on  our  old  footing,  and  clear  up  the 
troubles." 

At  this  John  Smith  got  off  his  chair  and  started 
lo  go  to  the  back  part  of  the  shop. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Smith,"  Mamie  exclaimed,  "I  am  sure  it 
Is  all  a  mistake  and  can  be  explained  if  you  will  tell 
just  what  you  have  discovered." 

"Come  on,  John,"  Bell  said,  "the  cashier  perhaps 
was  not  to  blame,  and  maybe  after  he  has  heard  our 
part  of  the  story  he  will  see  that  we  have  done  just 
right." 

"This  thing  is  getting  interesting  as  the  dickens," 
the  cashier  exclaimed,  "and  I'd  certainly  like  to  know 
"what  has  happened  and  why  you  are  so  sore  at  me.  I 
admit  I  hated  to  pay  you  $5  for  the  bank  statement, 
and  the  raise  in  advertising  rates,  but  let's  forget  that, 
and  talk  things  over." 

"Read  them  the  paper  you  have  just  read  me,"  said 
John  turning  around  to  the  group,  "that  will  probably 
tell  them  more  than  anything  else." 

"All  right,"  replied  Jefferson.  "This  is  the  first 
•draft  of  a  paper  that  I  have  prepared  and  am  going  to 
read  at  the  fall  meeting  of  the  Ohio  Press  Association 
at  Delphos,  and  I'd  like  to  have  your  opinion  of  it." 


PROFITS  155 

Then  the  four  listened  without  comment  while  Bell 
read  until  the  end. 

"Well,"  the  cashier  said,  when  Bell  had  finished, 
"I  don't  know  that  I  agree  with  you,  but  it  certainly 
looks  as  if  you  have  solved  the  problem  of  making  a 
profit  in  the  printing  business,  and  while  I  will  have 
to  help  pay  some  of  that  profit,  I  want  you  to  feel  1 
always  did  what  I  thought  was  for  the  best,  and  if  my 
advice  in  the  past  was  not  right,  I  am  going  to  stand 
by  you  anyway." 

A  lump  rose  in  John  Smith's  throat,  and  he  stepped 
forward  and  took  the  cashier's  hand.  Words  were  not 
needed. 

Later,  the  cashier  and  Mamie  talked,  as  Mamie's 
mother  had  preceded  them  to  the  house,  but  that  was 
only  for  the  moon  and  the  gate  to  hear.  It  is  none  of 
our  business. 


Prosperity 


XII 
PROSPERITY 

rTHHE  members  of  the  Ohio  Editorial  Association 
A  were  in  session  at  Delphos,  Ohio,  Tuesday,  June  16r 
1913.  There  were  present  some  thirty  newspaper  men, 
and  the  usual  number  of  supply  salesmen — about  equal 
parts.  The  previous  day's  session  had  been  taken  up 
by  a  talk  on  the  cost  system  by  a  cost  expert,  and 
among  those  who  listened  very  intently  was  Jefferson 
Bell — especially  so,  when  he  heard  that  the  workmen 
were  supposed  to  make  out  daily  time  reports  and  keep 
time  on  everything  they  did.  A  smile  spread  over  his 
countenance,  and  he  settled  back  into  his  seat  with  an 
air  of  satisfaction. 

The  chairman  announced  the  next  paper,  and  said : 
"Gentlemen,  we  will  now  hear  a  paper  on  'Making  a 
Printing  Office  Pay,'  by  Mr.  Jefferson  Bell,  of  Bladon. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  introduce  Mr.  Bell,  but 
I  think  he  has  a  message  we  will  all  want  to  hear,  as- 
I  recently  visited  his  plant  and  saw  there  something 
that  opened  my  eyes.  That  is  why  Mr.  Bell  has  been 
asked  to  address  us  upon  the  subject  assigned." 

Jefferson  Bell  fumbled  around  in  his  pocket,  and5 
finally  drew  forth  some  sheets  of  paper  from  his 
inside  coat  pocket,  advanced  to  the  platform  and  thea 

159 


160  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

in  a  clear  voice,  easily  heard  by  every  one  present, 
read  as  follows: 

"Brother  editors  and  publishers,  I  feel  somewhat 
at  a  disadvantage  in  addressing  you  upon  the  subject 
assigned,  as  it  has  to  do  with  accounting,  business 
methods,  and  other  things  which  two  or  three  years 
ago  I  was  unfamiliar  with.  I  am  a  country  editor,  and 
proud  of  it,  -and  having  read  all  the  jokes  about  the 
unbusinesslike  methods  of  a  country  editor,  you  know 
full  well  what  I  mean. 

"But,  you  do  not  want  to  listen  to  praises  of 
country  editors,  nor  do  you  want  to  hear  about  their 
great  influence  for  good,  and  how  they  in  some  way 
control  the  minds  of  the  people  and  sway  their  ideas, 
or  any  of  the  other  old  stuff  which  is  sometimes  told 
us  by  those  who  wish  to  flatter  us  for  their  own 
purposes. 

"On  the  other  hand,  the  country  publisher  has 
never  been  a  business  man,  and  if  in  some  way  he 
could  meet  his  bills,  manage  to  get  the  'insides'  out 
of  the  express  office,  and  pay  the  help  on  Saturday 
night,  he  supposed  that  he  was  making  some  money. 

"Two  years  ago  I  suddenly  realized  that  I  was 
not  making  money  and  never  would  make  money, 
and  that  if  something  was  not  done  quickly  I  might 
lose  the  results  of  many  years  of  hard  work.  I  was 
not  the  type  of  man  to  go  into  the  matter  deeply 
and  find  out  why,  as  I  am  a  country  editor,  and 
would  rather  write  an  editorial  than  add  a  column 
of  figures. 

"Those  of  us  who  write  can  at  least  think,  and 


PROSPERITY  161 

we  can  get  others  to  accomplish  things  we  find  out 
we  are  not  suited  to  do. 

"When  the  idea  struck  me  that  something  must 
be  done,  I  thought  of  the  man  who  had  been  with  me 
for  years,  and  he  impressed  me  as  the  man  who,  if  I 
were  to  take  him  into  partnership,  would  take  a  load 
off  my  mind,  and  also  anight  help  ito  place  the 
Banner  among  the  few  papers  that  were  making 
some  money. 

"This  was  accomplished.  In  a  few  days  John 
Smith  became  my  partner,  and  to  him  I  assigned  all 
the  business  details,  thus  being  able  to  devote  more 
of  my  time  to  the  newspaper.  But,  not  for  one  in- 
stant did  I  neglect  to  take  an  interest  in  the  business 
affairs,  and  consult  with  my  partner.  It  is  by  co- 
operation that  we  can  attain  the  ends  sought  for, 
and  I  believe  the  spirit  of  cooperation  of  my  partner 
and  myself  has  as  much  to  do  with  our  success  as 
anything  else.  If  things  went  wrong  we  did  not 
blame  one  another,  but  sought  for  the  solution.  As 
a  result,  I  believe  that  the  Banner  is  one  of  the  few 
papers  in  Ohio  today  that  is  making  real  money 
and  can  prove  it. 

"The  method  of  keeping  books  under  the  old  way 
was  discovered  to  be  inadequate,  and  with  the 
help  and  advice  of  the  cashier  of  the  bank  we  in- 
stalled a  cashbook  journal  and  loose  leaf  ledger, 
and  also  adopted  some  other  methods  which  help 
to  keep  the  business  in  a  more  orderly  fashion. 
Among  these  was  a  new  advertising  record  system 
which  has  saved  us  many  dollars,  not  only  in  time, 
but  in  avoiding  wrong  insertions,  running  adver- 


162  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

tisements  past  their  time,  and  other  things.  Also 
a  job  ticket  to  keep  track  of  our  jobwork,  and  a  card 
index  for  subscriptions  and  a  subscription  register. 
These  take  time  to  keep  up,  but  they  save  time  in  the 
end. 

"But  the  cashbook  journal  was  the  great  thing  in 
our  printing  plant,  and  we  discovered  something  not 
thought  of  at  first. 

"I  want  to  say  again  that  I  am  not  an  accountant 
or  a  bookkeeper,  so  I  may  use  wrong  terms,  but  I  will 
try  to  explain  just  what  the  cashbook  journal  enabled 
us  to  find  out  about  our  business. 

"At  the  end  of  the  first  month,  when  the  book  was 
balanced,  we  discovered  that  we  had  lost  a  few  dollars 
— that  our  income  was  not  as  large  as  our  expenses. 
How  we  found  this  out  is  very  easily  explained. 

"The  cashbook  journal  has  the  usual  column  for 
cash,  bank  account  and  merchandise,  and  some  others, 
but  it  had  a  set  of  columns  called  expense.  This  was 
the  column  that  enabled  us  to  make  the  discovery. 

"In  some  way  we  subtracted  from  the  total  price 
of  the  job,  or  the  newspaper,  the  cost  of  the  stock, 
plates,  or  anything  else  that  was  not  labor,  and  then 
the  difference  we  put  in  the  left  hand  column  of  the 
expense  account.  This  really  represented  what  might 
be  termed  profit,  but  not  all  profit,  because  all  the  ex- 
penses we  had  for  this  month  or  year  had  to  be  de- 
ducted from  that  amount. 

"The  left  hand  column  took  care  of  all  those  ex- 
penses, and  when  the  girl  who  kept  the  book  said  our 
expenses  were  over  $300  for  a  month,  and  were  more 
than  our  profits,  so  that  we  showed  a  loss,  I  was  nearly 


PROSPERITY  163 

thunderstruck.  Yet,  despite  a  careful  checking  up,  it 
had  cost  that  much  to  do  business. 

"Then  we  discovered  another  expense  we  had  over- 
looked. My  partner  had  invested  money  in  the  plant, 
and  naturally  wanted  some  interest  for  his  money, 
such  as  he  had  been  getting  from  the  bank.  I  had 
never  thought  of  that.  We  added  that  amount  to  the 
total  expense  for  the  month,  and  had  an  even  bigger 
loss. 

"The  second  month  was  not  much  better,  and  then 
we  decided  something  must  be  done  as  we  were  not 
taking  in  money  enough.  The  bank  cashier  said  we 
were  not  doing  enough  business.  I  could  not  see  that, 
as  we  were  all  busy,  had  a  good  circulation,  and  nearly 
every  merchant  advertised  with  us. 

"Then  he  showed  where  by  doing  some  more  busi- 
ness, with  no  more  expense,  we  could  make  up  the 
deficit.  It  did  not  convince  me,  but  my  partner,  who 
had  charge  of  the  mechanical  end  of  the  business, 
seemed  determined,  so  we  went  after  more  business, 
got  out  a  special  Christmas  edition,  and  went  out  of 
town  for  work. 

"Getting  more  business  was  all  right,  but  we  found 
we  were  also  getting  more  trouble.  We  had  to  hire 
extra  help,  and  these  extra  hands  spoiled  work  for  us, 
and  did  not  do  any  more  work  than  necessary.  The 
cashbook  journal  was  on  the  job,  and  each  month 
showed  that  we  were  but  little  better  off  than  before, 
despite  the  additional  business. 

"It  looked  for  a  while  like  a  failure,  but  I  let  mat- 
ters run  for  a  time  and  then  had  a  talk  with  my  part- 
ner. Some  way  he  seemed  to  agree  with  me,  and  he 


164  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

saw  that  while  he  was  working  harder  we  were  no  bet- 
ter off  than  before.  The  advice  of  the  cashier  had 
been  wrong  as  we  followed  it  out.  He  could  see 
nothing  but  volume,  and  the  cashbook  journal  recorded 
the  volume,  but  also  recorded  the  losses. 

"The  best  thing  we  ever  did  in  our  county  was 
when  we  formed  a  press  association.  There  should  be 
one  in  every  county  in  the  country. 

"My  partner  did  not  think  much  of  it,  but  as  I 
was  very  busy,  I  urged  him  to  go.  He  was  surprised 
to  find  at  the  meeting  that  we  had  been  taking  work 
from  others,  and  making  them  come  down  in  price  to 
meet  some  of  our  prices,  and  that  instead  of  helping 
ourselves  we  were  injuring  the  rest  of  the  publishers 
in  the  county. 

"We  discovered  that  others  were  getting  $5  for 
bank  statements,  while  we  were  getting  only  $3.  Only 
two  papers  in  the  county  were  getting  $1  a  year,  and 
we  were  one  of  the  two.  And  we  discovered  a  lot  of 
other  things. 

"When  my  partner  returned  we  spent  one  whole 
day  talking  the  matter  over;  then  I  suddenly  realized 
that  the  cashier  was  right,  but  we  had  applied  his  ideas 
in  the  wrong  way. 

"When  I  told  my  partner  just  what  I  Had  discovered 
he  at  once  saw  the  point,  but  like  many  others  blamed 
the  cashier  for  not  putting  us  right.  I  was  sorry  this 
occurred,  but  in  the  end  I  am  sure  things  will  come 
out  all  right. 

"In  a  few  minutes  we  had  down  in  black  and  white 
just  where  our  losses  occurred,  and  why  we  did  not 
make  money. 


PROSPERITY  165 

"We  were  losing  50  cents  on  each  subscriber,  and 
this  meant  about  $500  a  year,  or  about  $40  a  month. 
That  was  more  net  profit  than  we  had  ever  shown. 
Then  the  bank  statement  price  and  some  other  prices 
were  added  to  the  total,  and  we  took  the  amount  of 
business  we  had  done  the  first  two  months;  we  had 
the  cashbook  journal,  and  discovered,  as  I  had  thought, 
we  had  done  enough  business,  but  had  not  taken  in 
enough  money  for  the  business  we  had  done. 

"It  has  not  taken  us  very  long  to  right  our  methods 
of  doing  business,  and  today  we  are  back  to  the  old 
force  in  the  Banner  office.  All  the  extra  help  is  gone, 
we  are  now  charging  off  something  each  month  for 
interest  on  what  we  have  invested  in  the  plant,  some- 
thing for  depreciation,  we  have  advanced  our  own 
salaries  a  little,  and  each  month  we  can  see  a  profit  in 
our  business  after  paying  all  our  expenses. 

"This  is  a  great  discovery,  and  something  that  every 
country  publisher  should  investigate.  We  all  think 
we  are  making  money,  and  sometimes  we  are  led  into 
a  campaign  for  getting  more  business,  when  in  reality 
we  would  find  that  we  have  enough  business  in  our  own 
territory  or  town  if  we  were  getting  the  right  price 
for  it. 

"And  the  difference  between  the  right  price  and 
the  wrong  price  is  not  so  very  much  either. 

"Besides  that,  we  have  been  able  >D  keep  track  of 
our  expenses,  with  little  or  no  trouble,  and  we  know 
that  we  have  not  spent  too  much  money.  Our  deprecia- 
tion account,  which  we  put  in  the  bank  each  month,  is 
getting  to  be  a  nice  sum,  and  in  a  short  time  we  will 


166  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

add  a  typesetting  machine  and  possibly  a  new  cylinder 
press  and  other  equipment — and  pay  cash  for  it. 

"As  to  raising  the  prices,  it  has  not  been  so  dif- 
ficult; in  fact  it  has  been  so  easy  we  have  just  about 
been  kicking  ourselves,  as  might  be  said,  that  we  did 
not  raise  our  subscription  price  to  $1.50  long  ago. 
Our  advertising  rates  have  been  slightly  increased,  and 
after  some  complaints  our  advertisers  are  paying  the 
new  rates  and  thinking  nothing  of  it. 

'The  bank  cashier,  I  am  sure,  is  pleased,  as  our 
bank  balance  is  now  larger  than  ever — which  is  the 
thing  that  usually  pleases  a  bank  cashier. 

"That  is  my  story.  It  is  simple  when  one  listens 
to  it  all,  yet  if  it  had  been  proposed,  or  I  had  thought 
what  would  have  happened  in  the  year  and  a  half,  I 
would  have  strenously  opposed  putting  in  the  cashbook 
journal.  Now  that  it  has  happened,  and  I  have  dis- 
covered the  reason  for  the  lack  of  profits,  I  can  only 
say  that  every  newspaper,  every  printing  office,  should 
have  some  such  system  of  keeping  accounts,  and  then 
we  would  all  be  ready  to  listen  to  reason. 

"The  greatest  drawback  to  the  printing  business 
is  a  lack  of  real  bookkeeping  knowledge.  I  am  not 
a  bookkeeper,  and  don't  want  to  be  one.  I  hate  figures. 
I  am  a  country  newspaper  man,  but  I  am  glad  I  have 
a  partner  who  likes  figures,  who  likes  to  have  books 
kept,  and  as  a  result  we  are  making  some  real  money. 

"Gentlemen,  I  thank  you." 

A  few  of  those  present  clapped  their  hands  when 
Bell  finished,  and  then  the  chairman  announced  a 
speaker  on  the  question,  "Should  church  advertising 
be  run  free?" 


PROSPERITY  167 

As  Jefferson  Bell  went  to  his  seat,  "Mac"  came 
over  and  spoke  to  him. 

"Mrs.  Bell  wants  you  on  the  long  distance  tele- 
phone," he  said.  "She  seemed  to  be  very  much  ex- 
cited." 

"Wonder  what  it  can  be,"  Bell  exclaimed.  "The 
plant  must  be  burned  down  or  something.  Let's  go.'* 

In  a  few  minutes  they  were  at  the  hotel  and  had 
Mrs.  Bell  on  the  telephone.  "Mac"  stood  outside  the 
booth,  anxiously  awaiting  the  end  of  the  conversation. 
He  was  running  up  in  his  mind  just  what  machinery, 
type  and  other  things  Bell  &  Smith  would  need,  and 
just  about  how  much  the  total  would  be,  and  was  be- 
ginning to  worry  about  how  much  insurance  they  had 
carried,  when  Bell  came  out  of  the  booth. 

"Do  you  know  what  Smith  and  the  cashier  have 
done  now?"  Bell  asked,  with  indignation  plainly  writ- 
ten on  his  face. 

"For  the  love  of  Mike,  what  next!"  Mac  exclaimed, 
as  he  saw  one  fine  order  vanishing  into  thin  air. 

"Well,  Mrs.  Bell  says  that  Smith  and  the  cashier 
have  married  Lucy  and  Mamie,  and  have  left  town  for 
two  weeks,  and  are  now  in  Niagara  Falls." 

"Say,  wait  a  minute,  let's  get  this  right;  who  mar- 
ried who,  and  did  they  leap  into  the  falls  or  into 
matrimony?" 

Bell  laughed,  all  the  indignation  gone. 

"Oh,  it  is  like  this.  John  Smith  has  married  Lucy, 
the  cashier's  sister,  and  to  make  the  thing  complete^ 
and  as  the  cashier  would  probably  be  without  a  house- 
keeper, he  has  married  Mamie,  and  they  have  gone  to 


168  JOHN  SMITH'S  BOOKKEEPING 

Niagara  Falls  and  won't  be  back  for  a  couple  of 
weeks." 

"What  do  you  think  of  that!"  Mac  exclaimed. 
"Lucy  could  make  the  best  lemon  pies.  Why  didn't 
I  think  of  that?  Oh,  well,  who  wants  a  traveling  man, 
anyway?  Say,  what  are  you  smiling  at  now,  Bell?" 

"Oh,  I  was  just  thinking.  You  know  Smith  put  in 
that  bookkeeping  system  and  changed  the  office  while 
I  was  away.  Well,  now  is  my  chance!  While  he  is 
gone,  I  am  going  to  put  in  that  cost  system,  and  when 
he  gets  back  he  will  have  to  keep  time  on  every  job, 
and  do  a  lot  more  figuring.  He  likes  to  figure,  so 
why  not  give  him  enough?" 


Announcement 


ANNOUNCEMENT 

WHILE  the  story  of  John  Smith's  Bookkeeping  has 
been  very  entertaining,  bringing  laughs,  tears 
and  an  occasional  heart  throb,  it  also  contains  a  great 
moral. 

Printers  and  publishers  have  weathered  the  chaotic 
memorable  period,  marking  their  first  attempt  to  gain 
fame  and  fortune  from  the  printing  industry,  can  look 
back  and  smile  at  the  trials  of  Jefferson  Bell.  They 
will  all  agree  that  John  Smith  had  the  right  idea. 

The  printer  or  publisher  of  to-day  not  having  the 
simple  systems  which  brought  The  Bladon  Banner  to 
the  front,  were  perhaps  very  much  interested  in  the 
results  which  John  Smith  attained. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  work  out  for  yourself  the 
method  of  overcoming  difficulties  in  your  plant  as 
John  Smith  was  compelled  to  do,  for  the  Systems  are 
all  prepared  and  at  your  disposal  for  a  minimum 
charge. 

On  the  next  page  you  will  find  a  list  of  our  various 
books,  Systems  and  Advertising  Series. 

All  who  desire  ^complete  information  on  all  Sys- 
tems used  by  John  Smith,  so  that  added  efficiency  may 
be  obtained  in  their  plants,  which  means  better  news- 
papers, better  printing  at  a  profit,  just  write — 

PORTE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


The  Franklin  Printers  Service 


The  Franklin  Printing  Price  List 
The  Business  Printer 
The  Ad-Viservice 
The  Craftsman 

SYSTEMS 

Practical  Inventory  System 
Practical  Advertising  System 
Practical  Cost  System 
Practical  Bookkeeping  System 
Practical  Subscription  System 

BOOKS 

Practical  Cost  System  for  Printing  Offices 
By  R.  T.  Porte 

How  to  Figure  Costs  in  the  Printing  Office 
By  R.  T.  Porte 

Printers  of  Chiapolis 
By  R.  T.  Porte 

How  and  What  to  Write  As  News 
By  Carl  A.  Jettinger 

Other  books  in  preparation. 

ADVERTISING  SERIES 

Send  for  samples  of  the  latest  Advertising  Series 
of  cuts  and  selling  copy. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $I.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


M.  3    1039 


REC'D 


JAN  6  *64-i2M 


YB   18473 


576247 


..-  - 

-si 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


